tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64907089752586881062018-02-21T06:26:14.936-08:00Leah Cleary: Secondary Resources for Social Studies and EnglishRecollections on my adventures in teaching...stories, ideas, resources, what works...and what doesn't!Leah Clearynoreply@blogger.comBlogger115125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490708975258688106.post-59985464389265419612018-01-31T18:50:00.001-08:002018-02-01T12:58:45.262-08:00Level Reading and Work Offline with Google Drive and Rewordify<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KjXpKQEV7dI/WnJ87UkVkDI/AAAAAAAAEUs/iNsMvkpeJT0lyf0JDgrSXoG-ajin5madwCLcBGAs/s1600/Slide1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Technology is an amazing educational tool, but not all students have access to it outside of school. This blog post describes one way to level reading passages for students of various ability levels and allow them to work offline in Google Classroom. Click through to learn how!" border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="1536" data-pin-description="Technology is an amazing educational tool, but not all students have access to it outside of school. This blog post describes one way to level reading passages for students of various ability levels and allow them to work offline in Google Classroom. Click through to learn how!" height="208" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KjXpKQEV7dI/WnJ87UkVkDI/AAAAAAAAEUs/iNsMvkpeJT0lyf0JDgrSXoG-ajin5madwCLcBGAs/s400/Slide1.PNG" title="Technology is an amazing educational tool, but not all students have access to it outside of school. This blog post describes one way to level reading passages for students of various ability levels and allow them to work offline in Google Classroom. Click through to learn how!" width="400" /></a>Some of you know that I have spent the past few months in a new school system. I've gone through the process of going 1:1 once, and now it's happening again. Of course, I'm thrilled that I now have a Promethean Board, and my school will be adding one Chromebook per student very soon.<br /><br />I am also thrilled to be on the 1:1 implementation committee at my school (that's right, I just used the words "thrilled" and "committee" in the same sentence--it must be getting very cold in a traditionally hot place, either that, or large, pink farm creatures are sprouting wings and frolicking in the clouds).<br /><br />But I LOVE using technology in the classroom. I like the traditional stuff, too, (blending is best) but technology opens so many doors that are otherwise unavailable. For example, using Google Expeditions, I can take my students on a tour of Hadrian's Wall--that would be really expensive from a traditional classroom.<br /><br />From this, I can hope that 1:1 has the potential to literally open up new worlds to my students.<br /><br />But there is an inequitable side to technology (at the moment, anyway). Not all students have access <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cg6rWfnbwpE/WnJ9QZl1dGI/AAAAAAAAEUw/66zd_Ccty6oFBIoHT2x5KLAgZoE6peUrgCEwYBhgL/s1600/Level%2BReading%2Band%2BWork%2BOffline%2BPinterest.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Technology is an amazing educational tool, but not all students have access to it outside of school. This blog post describes one way to level reading passages for students of various ability levels and allow them to work offline in Google Classroom. Click through to learn how!" border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="737" data-pin-description="Technology is an amazing educational tool, but not all students have access to it outside of school. This blog post describes one way to level reading passages for students of various ability levels and allow them to work offline in Google Classroom. Click through to learn how!" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cg6rWfnbwpE/WnJ9QZl1dGI/AAAAAAAAEUw/66zd_Ccty6oFBIoHT2x5KLAgZoE6peUrgCEwYBhgL/s320/Level%2BReading%2Band%2BWork%2BOffline%2BPinterest.png" title="Technology is an amazing educational tool, but not all students have access to it outside of school. This blog post describes one way to level reading passages for students of various ability levels and allow them to work offline in Google Classroom. Click through to learn how!" width="208" /></a>to the internet at home. My fix for that when I've assigned homework digitally has been to send home a textbook and have the student complete a comparable activity using the book--not ideal, but workable.<br /><br />Today, at a "committee" meeting, an ESL teacher asked a question that gave me pause: "When we go1:1, that's great, but how will students with no internet access at home complete their assignments?" Some students need leveled readings.<br /><br />She uses ThinkCerca, which is a great program that levels reading based on Lexile. But the program needs the internet in order to actually work. That makes it no good for some of her students at home.<br /><br />Of course, the ultimate work-around here is a solution: provide affordable internet to everyone, or at least allow students without internet to check out hot spot devices (is this the correct terminology?).<br /><br />But until that day comes, here's a suggestion.<br /><br />We all know that the internet provides an abundance of articles on relevant issues that paper textbooks cannot match.<br /><br />1. Pick an article you want your students to read.<br />2. For the students who have no internet access, copy and paste the article and your comprehension questions into a Google Doc.<br />3. Have students set their Google Drive to "work offline," so that they don't need internet access.<br />4. Simplify the text for students who need it simplified, using rewordify.com.<br />5. Copy and paste that text into a Google Doc to share with those students.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qam9lKBPzoo/WnJ-I93kUwI/AAAAAAAAEU4/FjhCSZLu7NAK11mfSQjPIDoIZQgdCLVPwCLcBGAs/s1600/Slide2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Technology is an amazing educational tool, but not all students have access to it outside of school. This blog post describes one way to level reading passages for students of various ability levels and allow them to work offline in Google Classroom. Click through to learn how!" border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="1536" data-pin-description="Technology is an amazing educational tool, but not all students have access to it outside of school. This blog post describes one way to level reading passages for students of various ability levels and allow them to work offline in Google Classroom. Click through to learn how!" height="332" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qam9lKBPzoo/WnJ-I93kUwI/AAAAAAAAEU4/FjhCSZLu7NAK11mfSQjPIDoIZQgdCLVPwCLcBGAs/s640/Slide2.PNG" title="Technology is an amazing educational tool, but not all students have access to it outside of school. This blog post describes one way to level reading passages for students of various ability levels and allow them to work offline in Google Classroom. Click through to learn how!" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fMWiYoeZgWA/WnJ94hKkktI/AAAAAAAAEU0/cX7QHIz78poDW6hE1L-UaAiLfAAH77cpQCLcBGAs/s1600/Slide3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Technology is an amazing educational tool, but not all students have access to it outside of school. This blog post describes one way to level reading passages for students of various ability levels and allow them to work offline in Google Classroom. Click through to learn how!" border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="1536" data-pin-description="Technology is an amazing educational tool, but not all students have access to it outside of school. This blog post describes one way to level reading passages for students of various ability levels and allow them to work offline in Google Classroom. Click through to learn how!" height="334" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fMWiYoeZgWA/WnJ94hKkktI/AAAAAAAAEU0/cX7QHIz78poDW6hE1L-UaAiLfAAH77cpQCLcBGAs/s640/Slide3.PNG" title="Technology is an amazing educational tool, but not all students have access to it outside of school. This blog post describes one way to level reading passages for students of various ability levels and allow them to work offline in Google Classroom. Click through to learn how!" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br />They can now complete a leveled reading offline and digitally at home.<br /><br />This is not the perfect solution, but at least all students of differing ability levels can be on the same page during a class discussion about a particular article. Lack of internet access should not prevent that. <!-- Begin MailChimp Signup Form --><link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-10_7.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><style type="text/css"> #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. 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Click through to read my post about how you can review for exams with a QR code scavenger hunt." border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="1536" data-pin-description="QR codes are a really fun and surprisingly easy tool to use in the classroom. Click through to read my post about how you can review for exams with a QR code scavenger hunt." height="208" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DGXZEJGt2g8/WijGXRCxkFI/AAAAAAAAESs/xbM8iBrWwnYKcCTL6_E_i3xaOQf29spvACLcBGAs/s400/Slide1.PNG" title="QR codes are a really fun and surprisingly easy tool to use in the classroom. Click through to read my post about how you can review for exams with a QR code scavenger hunt." width="400" /></a></div>As a huge proponent of the <b><a href="http://www.theblendedclassroom.com/">blended classroom</a></b>, I like to mix things up. Last week, I wrote about <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/11/review-for-exams-in-15-minutes-or-less.html">super-quick low-tech reviews</a></b>. This week, the exam review in my classroom is all about that tech.<br /><br />Just like the next person, I have my favorites that I tend to overuse, and I've written about them on several occasions (<b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/04/is-quizlet-live-or-quizizz-best-for.html">QuizletLive</a></b>, <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2015/03/spring-survival-tip-9-use-kahoot-in.html">Kahoot!</a></b>, <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-4-get-started-with.html">edpuzzle</a></b>, <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-7-add-variety-with.html">learning apps</a></b>, <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2015/12/google-classroom-why-and-how.html">Google Apps</a></b>, etc.). But when you hear the Kahoot! music coming from the room across the hall and your students are mindlessly singing along, that might be a sign that it's time to throw something new their way.<br /><br />And when you have students who get fidgety after 10 minutes in their seats, it's imperative to try something new.<br /><br />So this week, I'm going to write about one really cool and simple tech review that will get your students out of their seats and engaged. This one is truly blended, folks.<br /><h3>Have a QR Challenge Scavenger Hunt</h3><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xdeSnPn2zDE/WijO1UWcA9I/AAAAAAAAETE/NrNfYr8_4tE3wriLKcieHqwAhCyfyjCrACLcBGAs/s1600/Exam%2BReview%2B2%2BPinterest.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="QR codes are a really fun and surprisingly easy tool to use in the classroom. Click through to read my post about how you can review for exams with a QR code scavenger hunt." border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="737" data-pin-description="QR codes are a really fun and surprisingly easy tool to use in the classroom. Click through to read my post about how you can review for exams with a QR code scavenger hunt." height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xdeSnPn2zDE/WijO1UWcA9I/AAAAAAAAETE/NrNfYr8_4tE3wriLKcieHqwAhCyfyjCrACLcBGAs/s320/Exam%2BReview%2B2%2BPinterest.png" title="QR codes are a really fun and surprisingly easy tool to use in the classroom. Click through to read my post about how you can review for exams with a QR code scavenger hunt." width="208" /></a>I try to get students up and moving whenever I can. It's great for kinesthetic learners and, truly, it's good to throw a curve ball at everybody every now and then. Simply visit&nbsp;<b><a href="http://www.classtools.net/QR/">QR Code Treasure Hunt</a>&nbsp;</b>from <b><a href="http://classtools.net/">classtools.net</a>&nbsp;</b>(there's lots of fun stuff here). You will enter questions and answers that you want your students to review.<br /><br />Only instead of printing out a boring worksheet, this site generates QR Codes for you--they don't lead to a website--they pull up the text of the question. So, you can print the QR Codes, scatter them around your room or the school, and challenge students to find them, scan them, and answer them in a set amount of time.<br /><br />I know, I know, QR Codes are so 2015, but you have simply got to give this one a try. Students are racing to answer questions--finding that QR Code and scanning it adds that treasure hunt element that makes it fun.<br /><br />I'm going to show you how to create one of these scavenger hunts, how to implement one in your classroom, and, finally, how to trouble shoot potential issues (do not skip this part--the new IPhone update can cause a potential issue if you don't prepare).<br /><h4>Here's How You Do It:</h4><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZG33z0lSTmo/WijGfQp5GvI/AAAAAAAAESw/z1jAkH-NSHc_rgAi7wdxpPhJV403VrC-gCLcBGAs/s1600/Slide2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="QR codes are a really fun and surprisingly easy tool to use in the classroom. Click through to read my post about how you can review for exams with a QR code scavenger hunt." border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="1536" data-pin-description="QR codes are a really fun and surprisingly easy tool to use in the classroom. Click through to read my post about how you can review for exams with a QR code scavenger hunt." height="334" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZG33z0lSTmo/WijGfQp5GvI/AAAAAAAAESw/z1jAkH-NSHc_rgAi7wdxpPhJV403VrC-gCLcBGAs/s640/Slide2.PNG" title="QR codes are a really fun and surprisingly easy tool to use in the classroom. Click through to read my post about how you can review for exams with a QR code scavenger hunt." width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7gIXX_DPd3g/Wiji0pZzY9I/AAAAAAAAETU/u8x4GYUed-Ys2ZTxfdyCVeIss2GWFz3LwCLcBGAs/s1600/Slide3.PNG" imageanchor="1"><img alt="QR codes are a really fun and surprisingly easy tool to use in the classroom. Click through to read my post about how you can review for exams with a QR code scavenger hunt." border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="1536" data-pin-description="QR codes are a really fun and surprisingly easy tool to use in the classroom. Click through to read my post about how you can review for exams with a QR code scavenger hunt." height="334" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7gIXX_DPd3g/Wiji0pZzY9I/AAAAAAAAETU/u8x4GYUed-Ys2ZTxfdyCVeIss2GWFz3LwCLcBGAs/s640/Slide3.PNG" title="QR codes are a really fun and surprisingly easy tool to use in the classroom. Click through to read my post about how you can review for exams with a QR code scavenger hunt." width="640" /></a></div><br />Be sure to download the <b><a href="http://bit.ly/2ACpECX">Cheat Sheet</a></b> so that you can do this with your students. :)<br /><br />What do you think? This is the boring study guide that's not so boring--a wonderful mix of technology, movement, and challenge. If you give it a try, be sure to let me know how it goes in the comments below. And check back in next week--I plan to discuss one more exam review that has been a life-saver for my exhausted students.</div><!-- Begin MailChimp Signup Form --><link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-10_7.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><style type="text/css"> #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ </style><br /><div id="mc_embed_signup"><form action="https://blogspot.us10.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=186b802153fb21547cca716cb&amp;id=6a65daf72b" class="validate" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" method="post" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" novalidate="" target="_blank"><div id="mc_embed_signup_scroll"><h2>Subscribe to our mailing list</h2><div class="indicates-required"><span class="asterisk">*</span> indicates required</div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-EMAIL">Email Address <span class="asterisk">*</span></label> <input class="required email" id="mce-EMAIL" name="EMAIL" type="email" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-FNAME">First Name </label> <input class="" id="mce-FNAME" name="FNAME" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-LNAME">Last Name </label> <input class="" id="mce-LNAME" name="LNAME" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group input-group"><strong>Email Format </strong> <br /><ul><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-0" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="html" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-0">html</label></li><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-1" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="text" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-1">text</label></li></ul></div><div class="clear" id="mce-responses"><div class="response" id="mce-error-response" style="display: none;"></div><div class="response" id="mce-success-response" style="display: none;"></div></div><!-- real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups--> <br /><div aria-hidden="true" style="left: -5000px; position: absolute;"><input name="b_186b802153fb21547cca716cb_6a65daf72b" tabindex="-1" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="clear"><input class="button" id="mc-embedded-subscribe" name="subscribe" type="submit" value="Subscribe" /></div></div></form></div><script src="//s3.amazonaws.com/downloads.mailchimp.com/js/mc-validate.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script type="text/javascript">(function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true);</script><!--End mc_embed_signup-->Leah Clearyhttps://plus.google.com/112034139671515193206noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490708975258688106.post-28302058335177752812017-11-30T19:26:00.000-08:002017-12-04T14:08:31.140-08:00Review for Exams in 15 Minutes or Less<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sJmeuVbadYM/WiDFTwM649I/AAAAAAAAER0/0sYPDLpg3-8TlEaBKUsQ7iBmRUJmJpxKwCLcBGAs/s1600/Slide1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="If you're a secondary teacher, then you know exams are not so fun. However, these three review games for exams can be done in 15 minutes or less! Click through to read how to review for exams with these activities." border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="1536" data-pin-description="If you're a secondary teacher, then you know exams are not so fun. However, these three review games for exams can be done in 15 minutes or less! Click through to read how to review for exams with these activities." height="209" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sJmeuVbadYM/WiDFTwM649I/AAAAAAAAER0/0sYPDLpg3-8TlEaBKUsQ7iBmRUJmJpxKwCLcBGAs/s400/Slide1.PNG" title="If you're a secondary teacher, then you know exams are not so fun. However, these three review games for exams can be done in 15 minutes or less! Click through to read how to review for exams with these activities." width="400" /></a></div>It's that time of year. The time of year that is met with dread by students and teachers alike. The time of year that, in the winter, we need two weeks to recover from, and in the spring, at least eight.<br /><div><br /></div><div>It's Exam Time. Again.</div><div><br /></div><div>Exams give me a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach that can only be induced by--exams.</div><div><br /></div><div>The source of the uneasiness? Perhaps it's the echo of the test anxiety I felt as a student reverberating through my mind's locker. Perhaps it's the undue amount of emphasis we place on tests, or the undue amount of weight we give to test results in teacher evaluations (but I've written about that stressor <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/02/the-problem-with-system-that-blames.html?showComment=1510613047234">elsewhere</a></b>).<br /><br />Whatever the cause of this anxiety, I know exams are right around the corner. I know I have to get to a certain point in the curriculum by then. I know students need to review. And I know we don't have the amount of time to review that we need.<br /><br /><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-a4zOn7npWLc/WiDFeSQrUUI/AAAAAAAAER4/S_pFTOe1TD4WtAT9fV4CLnL-halQyMQZgCLcBGAs/s1600/Exam%2BReview%2B1%2BPinterest.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="If you're a secondary teacher, then you know exams are not so fun. However, these three review games for exams can be done in 15 minutes or less! Click through to read how to review for exams with these activities." border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="737" data-pin-description="If you're a secondary teacher, then you know exams are not so fun. However, these three review games for exams can be done in 15 minutes or less! Click through to read how to review for exams with these activities." height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-a4zOn7npWLc/WiDFeSQrUUI/AAAAAAAAER4/S_pFTOe1TD4WtAT9fV4CLnL-halQyMQZgCLcBGAs/s320/Exam%2BReview%2B1%2BPinterest.png" title="If you're a secondary teacher, then you know exams are not so fun. However, these three review games for exams can be done in 15 minutes or less! Click through to read how to review for exams with these activities." width="208" /></a>So my mission this week is to talk about quick and easy review strategies that will take no more than 15 minutes either at the beginning or the end of class, so that we can review and continue to learn new material right until the bitter end.<br /><br /><b>1. 5-5-5 Study Guide</b><br /><b><br /></b>Never heard of it before? Well, okay--I made it up, but it works with my students, so I'm thinking it might work with yours, too.<br /><br />You know those study guides that we would have killed for when we were in school? The ones our teachers never made? The ones our students never answer?<br /><br />Yes, those.<br /><br />Go ahead and devote 15 minutes at the end of class to forcing students to examine this gift horse full on. It goes like this:<br /><br />-Instruct students that they have five minutes to work on their study guide all alone and quietly. They should go through it and answer all of the questions they can off the top of their heads. Then they should look up questions they don't know the answers to using their notes. <b>Set your timer for five minutes.</b><br /><b><br /></b>-When the timer goes off, pair students with the person next to them. Explain to them that they will have five minutes to discuss answers and help each other out. <b>Set your timer for five minutes.</b><br /><b><br /></b>-When the timer goes off, tell students that they have five minutes to ask you questions. The time limit ensures that the majority of them pay attention to questions asked and answered and that you aren't answering study guide questions repeatedly and indefinitely. <b>Set your timer for five minutes.</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>2. Study Guide Scrammble</b><br /><b><br /></b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gv405bngiVI/WiDFuzUVl1I/AAAAAAAAER8/EqBzuYlzLWo_eFYSLXrByklJsGQvY8GGQCLcBGAs/s1600/Slide3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="If you're a secondary teacher, then you know exams are not so fun. However, these three review games for exams can be done in 15 minutes or less! Click through to read how to review for exams with these activities." border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="1536" data-pin-description="If you're a secondary teacher, then you know exams are not so fun. However, these three review games for exams can be done in 15 minutes or less! Click through to read how to review for exams with these activities." height="332" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gv405bngiVI/WiDFuzUVl1I/AAAAAAAAER8/EqBzuYlzLWo_eFYSLXrByklJsGQvY8GGQCLcBGAs/s640/Slide3.PNG" title="If you're a secondary teacher, then you know exams are not so fun. However, these three review games for exams can be done in 15 minutes or less! Click through to read how to review for exams with these activities." width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Answer the study guide yourself, and then delete the questions, and mix up the answers. Place students into groups of three or four. Instruct them to place the number of the question on their study guide next to the answer it best goes with.<br /><br />I make this quick by turning it into a challenge. The first group that gets all of the answers correct, wins. I give them XP (points for my <b><a href="http://bit.ly/2utYjhz">gamified classroom</a></b>), but candy and extra credit are also great incentives.<br /><br />To make checking their answers go as quickly as possible, be sure to make a key with the study guide question numbers next to the answers.<br /><br /><b>3. Face the Class</b><br /><b><br /></b>This is another one I made up, but with the help of tried and true games like TABOO and the once popular app, HEADS UP.<br /><br />For a 15 minute Review:<br />-Type one vocabulary, concept, person, etc. word onto a single PowerPoint slide. Fill up as many slides with one word as you plan to review.<br /><div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">-Divide your class into two teams.</span></div><div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">-Have one student stand in front of the class with his/her back to the board.</span></div><div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">-Students from his/her team give clues without saying the actual word that is projected.</span></div><div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">-If the student guesses the word correctly before the timer sounds (set a timer for one minute), his/her team gets a point.</span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">-The team with the most points at the end of the game wins (<b><a href="http://bit.ly/2utYjhz">XP</a></b>, a piece of candy, extra credit...).</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">If I ever have a few minutes left at the end of class, I call one student up to "Face the Class." The entire class gives clues without saying the word. If the student guesses the correct answer before the timer goes off, he/she gets a piece of candy and selects the next student to "Face the Class."</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I used this method once before when I was being observed and had 5 minutes left with nothing to do, and the administrator was quite impressed!</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I made a PowerPoint game template of this with a built in timer and a scoreboard that you can type on in present mode. You can preview it <b><a href="http://bit.ly/2zDULN6">HERE</a></b>.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://bit.ly/2zDULN6"><img alt="If you're a secondary teacher, then you know exams are not so fun. However, these three review games for exams can be done in 15 minutes or less! Click through to read how to review for exams with these activities." border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="1536" data-pin-description="If you're a secondary teacher, then you know exams are not so fun. However, these three review games for exams can be done in 15 minutes or less! Click through to read how to review for exams with these activities." height="334" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QrtWHrTUqvM/WiDF34-aFnI/AAAAAAAAESE/m_RbaNL3MmARnuEhGyM0g9FKb_56BZpTwCLcBGAs/s640/Slide2.PNG" title="If you're a secondary teacher, then you know exams are not so fun. However, these three review games for exams can be done in 15 minutes or less! Click through to read how to review for exams with these activities." width="640" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://bit.ly/2zDULN6">Get it HERE!</a></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">What are your quick, go-to reviews that take 15 minutes or less? Leave a comment and let me know.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">And check back in next week when I talk about the three best super quick reviews using technology--perfect for the 1:1 classroom!</span><br /><br /><br /></div><!-- Begin MailChimp Signup Form --><link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-10_7.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><style type="text/css"> #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ </style><br /><div id="mc_embed_signup"><form action="https://blogspot.us10.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=186b802153fb21547cca716cb&amp;id=6a65daf72b" class="validate" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" method="post" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" novalidate="" target="_blank"><div id="mc_embed_signup_scroll"><h2>Subscribe to our mailing list</h2><div class="indicates-required"><span class="asterisk">*</span> indicates required</div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-EMAIL">Email Address <span class="asterisk">*</span></label> <input class="required email" id="mce-EMAIL" name="EMAIL" type="email" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-FNAME">First Name </label> <input class="" id="mce-FNAME" name="FNAME" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-LNAME">Last Name </label> <input class="" id="mce-LNAME" name="LNAME" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group input-group"><strong>Email Format </strong> <br /><ul><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-0" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="html" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-0">html</label></li><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-1" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="text" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-1">text</label></li></ul></div><div class="clear" id="mce-responses"><div class="response" id="mce-error-response" style="display: none;"></div><div class="response" id="mce-success-response" style="display: none;"></div></div><!-- real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups--> <br /><div aria-hidden="true" style="left: -5000px; position: absolute;"><input name="b_186b802153fb21547cca716cb_6a65daf72b" tabindex="-1" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="clear"><input class="button" id="mc-embedded-subscribe" name="subscribe" type="submit" value="Subscribe" /></div></div></form></div><script src="//s3.amazonaws.com/downloads.mailchimp.com/js/mc-validate.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script type="text/javascript">(function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true);</script><!--End mc_embed_signup-->Leah Clearyhttps://plus.google.com/112034139671515193206noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490708975258688106.post-25463934690624182332017-09-20T20:16:00.005-07:002017-09-21T15:53:05.717-07:00Leaving the Drama at the Door: A Lesson on Civil Conflict and Real-World Solutions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PcbAka6KgiA/WcMpkd3EUSI/AAAAAAAAEL8/Ru_2DHppOV49XmE_4B-WVRBLwBsi01DxQCLcBGAs/s1600/Infusing%2BTech%2BF.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="There are a lot of events happening in the world today that give people cause to complain. However, what's more productive is to offer solutions with those complaints. In this blog post, I talk about how to teach students to engage in civil discourse as a means of resolving conflict and finding real-world solutions. Click through to read the whole post and download a free lesson!" border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="1536" data-pin-description="There are a lot of events happening in the world today that give people cause to complain. However, what's more productive is to offer solutions with those complaints. In this blog post, I talk about how to teach students to engage in civil discourse as a means of resolving conflict and finding real-world solutions. Click through to read the whole post and download a free lesson!" height="334" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PcbAka6KgiA/WcMpkd3EUSI/AAAAAAAAEL8/Ru_2DHppOV49XmE_4B-WVRBLwBsi01DxQCLcBGAs/s640/Infusing%2BTech%2BF.png" title="There are a lot of events happening in the world today that give people cause to complain. However, what's more productive is to offer solutions with those complaints. In this blog post, I talk about how to teach students to engage in civil discourse as a means of resolving conflict and finding real-world solutions. Click through to read the whole post and download a free lesson!" width="640" /></a></div>What is talking about a problem without offering possible solutions? Complaining.<br /><br />Sometimes, it's okay to complain. It can be cathartic, and it's okay to talk through our disappointments, but if complaining is all we are in the habit of doing when faced with a problem, then nothing ever gets solved.<br /><br />I've been hearing a lot of complaining lately about riots, violence, terrorism, natural disasters--all things we should be complaining about.<br /><br />But my contention is that we need to guide our students to kick complaining up a notch and learn to offer solutions for their complaints. This is called problem-solving, a vital skill that can help transform feelings of helplessness into something more productive. I have a free lesson below for you that I'd really like your help with. What would you add, keep, and how did it work in your classroom? We had AMAZING discussions in my class, but that's a small piece of the puzzle.<br /><br />In order to become adept problem-solvers, our students need to be willing to listen to opinions that conflict with their own. But this seems to be very difficult for everyone, adults and young people alike.<br /><br /><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RsZ8sb5lWh0/WcMpzzpSjtI/AAAAAAAAEMA/vbo51BJRdEUQoifwUCJSETbmn4jngEW0ACLcBGAs/s1600/Civil%2BDiscourse%2BPinterest.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="There are a lot of events happening in the world today that give people cause to complain. However, what's more productive is to offer solutions with those complaints. In this blog post, I talk about how to teach students to engage in civil discourse as a means of resolving conflict and finding real-world solutions. Click through to read the whole post and download a free lesson!" border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="737" data-pin-description="There are a lot of events happening in the world today that give people cause to complain. However, what's more productive is to offer solutions with those complaints. In this blog post, I talk about how to teach students to engage in civil discourse as a means of resolving conflict and finding real-world solutions. Click through to read the whole post and download a free lesson!" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RsZ8sb5lWh0/WcMpzzpSjtI/AAAAAAAAEMA/vbo51BJRdEUQoifwUCJSETbmn4jngEW0ACLcBGAs/s320/Civil%2BDiscourse%2BPinterest.png" title="There are a lot of events happening in the world today that give people cause to complain. However, what's more productive is to offer solutions with those complaints. In this blog post, I talk about how to teach students to engage in civil discourse as a means of resolving conflict and finding real-world solutions. Click through to read the whole post and download a free lesson!" width="208" /></a>The students of today have come of age along with social media. Social media offers us a chance to be heard and to connect with others on a scale unimagined by previous generations. Social media has rendered C. Wright Mills's "Power Elite" virtually obsolete (the government officials and corporations who had the loudest voice in the past).<br /><br />Revolutions have begun as a result of social media--think the Arab Spring (withholding comments about its outcome). Citizen reporting has become a thing because of social media--think Periscope and Facebook Live.<br /><br />But there is a dark side to social media--a tendency to be exposed only to opinions that perpetuate our own. We don't get the whole picture that way. We begin to see individuals as the sum of their views. That is, if somebody holds an opinion contrary to our own, they are the "other"--untrustworthy, evil.<br /><br />It's no mistake that this has happened. It's not a vast Orwellian conspiracy leading us all down these blissfully narrow paths. It's simple economics.<br /><br />Social media outlets are not charitable organizations, but corporations whose primary concern is the bottom line. That bottom line is met through advertisements. Advertisements are targeted at social media users. If we don't visit their platforms, advertisers stop giving them business. If advertisers stop giving them business, they lose money (the new power elite?).<br /><br />So, in order for any social media outlet to make money, we have to keep coming back to see their ads. We are more likely to return if what we see reinforces our existing views. They know what our existing views are because of our posts, likes, shares, and those very un-delicious browser cookies. Therefore, they have developed algorithms to ensure that our existing opinions pop out at us the most when we visit their sites.<br /><br />Whenever conflicting opinions pop up, they have typically already been harangued and vilified by others of our mindset. And so confirmation bias sets in. And so we keep going back to Facebook, Twitter, Snap Chat, Instagram, whatever.<br /><br />That is great for social media corporations, but disasterous for our democratic-republic.<br /><br />Students need to be aware of this issue. They need to understand that conflict is a vital part of life--it introduces us to new perspectives. It allows us to grow. If we shield ourselves from conflict, we are also shielding ourselves from knowledge, from relationships, and from citizenship.<br /><br />Opening ourselves up to conflict is important but so is our response to it. We must truly listen to opposing sides. Then we must counter (if we choose to do so) with logic, reason, and civility. Vitriol doesn't change minds, it leads to defensiveness.<br /><br />Do I advocate moral relativism? Not remotely. Do I advocate standing up for your beliefs in the face of obvious injustice? Absolutely.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HUaFfUo0C_M/WcMqYNceF7I/AAAAAAAAEMI/8fj7w9igsqgvRcFcmpR7jpXJd6QF52QoACLcBGAs/s1600/Slide3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="There are a lot of events happening in the world today that give people cause to complain. However, what's more productive is to offer solutions with those complaints. In this blog post, I talk about how to teach students to engage in civil discourse as a means of resolving conflict and finding real-world solutions. Click through to read the whole post and download a free lesson!" border="0" data-original-height="1056" data-original-width="816" data-pin-description="There are a lot of events happening in the world today that give people cause to complain. However, what's more productive is to offer solutions with those complaints. In this blog post, I talk about how to teach students to engage in civil discourse as a means of resolving conflict and finding real-world solutions. Click through to read the whole post and download a free lesson!" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HUaFfUo0C_M/WcMqYNceF7I/AAAAAAAAEMI/8fj7w9igsqgvRcFcmpR7jpXJd6QF52QoACLcBGAs/s320/Slide3.PNG" title="There are a lot of events happening in the world today that give people cause to complain. However, what's more productive is to offer solutions with those complaints. In this blog post, I talk about how to teach students to engage in civil discourse as a means of resolving conflict and finding real-world solutions. Click through to read the whole post and download a free lesson!" width="247" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://bit.ly/2fDoKN0" target="_blank">GET THE LESSON</a></b></td></tr></tbody></table>But there is a civil way to do it. A way that employs logic rather than name-calling. A way that acknowledges the dignity we all possess as humans and is founded on the principle that we are more than our political views.<br /><br />The lesson I use to introduce these ideas is simple. It takes two traditional periods or one block class. I used it as a unit challenge for my <b><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Transform-Classroom-Management-with-Gamification-3314623" target="_blank">gamified classroom</a></b>, but it makes a good mini lesson for any social studies or ELA class (change the unit topics to ones from, say, a novel).<br /><br />You can grab an example of it <b><a href="http://bit.ly/2fDoKN0" target="_blank">HERE</a></b> (feel free to customize for your classroom), but it basically goes like this:<br /><br />***NEVER show film clips without previewing them first to make sure they are appropriate for your class.***<br /><br /><b>Day 1:</b><br />1. Bellringer: What rights are we guaranteed under the First Amendment? Explain which right you <br />believe is the most important.<br />-Discuss, and then project <b><a href="http://kids.laws.com/first-amendment" target="_blank">THIS</a></b> summary of the First Amendment on the board. Show <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPukq1tOOQQ" target="_blank">Clip 1</a></b> and <b><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000005363670/charlottesville-virginia-white-nationalist-protests.html" target="_blank">Clip 2</a></b>. Discuss whether or not either of those instances are examples of an expression of or a violation of the First Amendment.<br /><br />2. Read the handout as a class and go over the rubric. Make sure the students understand that there is no right or wrong answer here. They are problem-solving and being creative. So that they feel free to explore, I don't make this a major grade, nor is there a product attached to it. They are simply discussing, writing their thoughts in an organized fashion on notebook paper, and then sharing with the class.<br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iYBeyzQR6XQ/WcMqoFbSxdI/AAAAAAAAEMM/cCWaGG-8msMe8nUM9E8Rwoxwxj7ZCvnIgCLcBGAs/s1600/Slide4.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="There are a lot of events happening in the world today that give people cause to complain. However, what's more productive is to offer solutions with those complaints. In this blog post, I talk about how to teach students to engage in civil discourse as a means of resolving conflict and finding real-world solutions. Click through to read the whole post and download a free lesson!" border="0" data-original-height="1056" data-original-width="816" data-pin-description="There are a lot of events happening in the world today that give people cause to complain. However, what's more productive is to offer solutions with those complaints. In this blog post, I talk about how to teach students to engage in civil discourse as a means of resolving conflict and finding real-world solutions. Click through to read the whole post and download a free lesson!" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iYBeyzQR6XQ/WcMqoFbSxdI/AAAAAAAAEMM/cCWaGG-8msMe8nUM9E8Rwoxwxj7ZCvnIgCLcBGAs/s320/Slide4.PNG" title="There are a lot of events happening in the world today that give people cause to complain. However, what's more productive is to offer solutions with those complaints. In this blog post, I talk about how to teach students to engage in civil discourse as a means of resolving conflict and finding real-world solutions. Click through to read the whole post and download a free lesson!" width="247" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://bit.ly/2fDoKN0" target="_blank">GET THE LESSON</a></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>Day 2:</b><br />1. Bellringer: What is the biggest problem facing our society? Explain why you think so.<br />-Discuss, and then listen to <b><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=544861933" target="_blank">THIS</a></b> interview. After it's over, ask students what they thought about it, what stood out to them the most, and how it's an example of bravery and civil conflict in action.<br />2. Give each group a few minutes to share and discuss their answers from the previous day with the class.<br />3. Closing: Have students complete the exit ticket about civil conflict and problem-solving.<br /><br />This isn't a glitzy lesson--there are no bells and whistles. But it is a lesson that asks students to think about problems, offer solutions, and to also consider that individuals are more than their political opinions.<br /><br />What do you think? How do you get your students to problem-solve, interact, and express compassion? Please let me know in the comments below--I'd love some new ideas!<br /><br />Leah Clearyhttps://plus.google.com/112034139671515193206noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490708975258688106.post-78127709454415554742017-08-05T10:00:00.001-07:002017-08-05T12:41:13.195-07:00Gamification for Classroom Management <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MdAIzwuCamw/WYX3Y9F44-I/AAAAAAAAEG0/bE7upJ9ZV9si9m767FZGHKpl6aR2IRqbwCLcBGAs/s1600/gamification%2BF.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="For my fourth post in my Summer Professional Development series, I'm talking about using gamification for classroom management. You might be wondering why I'm advocating games for behavior control, but that's not quite it. Click through to read how we can adapt gamification to the classroom." border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="1536" data-pin-nopin="nopin" height="332" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MdAIzwuCamw/WYX3Y9F44-I/AAAAAAAAEG0/bE7upJ9ZV9si9m767FZGHKpl6aR2IRqbwCLcBGAs/s640/gamification%2BF.png" title="For my fourth post in my Summer Professional Development series, I'm talking about using gamification for classroom management. You might be wondering why I'm advocating games for behavior control, but that's not quite it. Click through to read how we can adapt gamification to the classroom." width="640" /></a></div><h3 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></h3><h3 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></h3><h3 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What is Gamifying?</span></span></h3><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gamifying is fun. It’s incentivising. It’s a classroom management strategy. Gamifying is the way many apps, programs, and even businesses are starting to work.&nbsp;</span></span></div><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_Ka3ZICAFfg/WYX3fcTnlsI/AAAAAAAAEG4/vcbRYgi2I5kjfFIkbteYWCi02FW5kkP5gCLcBGAs/s1600/gamification%2BPinterest.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="For my fourth post in my Summer Professional Development series, I'm talking about using gamification for classroom management. You might be wondering why I'm advocating games for behavior control, but that's not quite it. Click through to read how we can adapt gamification to the classroom." border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="737" data-pin-description="For my fourth post in my Summer Professional Development series, I'm talking about using gamification for classroom management. You might be wondering why I'm advocating games for behavior control, but that's not quite it. Click through to read how we can adapt gamification to the classroom." height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_Ka3ZICAFfg/WYX3fcTnlsI/AAAAAAAAEG4/vcbRYgi2I5kjfFIkbteYWCi02FW5kkP5gCLcBGAs/s320/gamification%2BPinterest.png" title="For my fourth post in my Summer Professional Development series, I'm talking about using gamification for classroom management. You might be wondering why I'm advocating games for behavior control, but that's not quite it. Click through to read how we can adapt gamification to the classroom." width="208" /></a><b id="docs-internal-guid-98fd8391-9b55-2e81-5f94-8ed687e17555" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gamifying is not simply playing games in your classroom.</span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In short, gamifying is incentivizing desired behavior with points, levels, and rewards. Let’s say you teach a math class, and you want your students to bring their notebooks and pencils (or 1:1 devices) every day. Give them a point for doing that.</span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">These points don’t go into the gradebook, though. They’re part of the larger game around which you have structured your classroom. After a certain number of points, students will move up a level, or “level-up.” Each level holds with it a desired privilege. That privilege can be a simple reward or “skill” that the student now possesses. Each level is associated with a badge. </span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is how video games work. It’s how various apps that incentivize weight-loss and healthy lifestyles work (think about the badges you earn on your Fitbit). This is the way many offices work, as well, so it’s no wonder that classrooms are headed in the same direction.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><br /><h3><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why Gamify?</span></h3><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve been in the classroom for 15 plus years, and I believe I have a pretty good grasp on the management side. I’m good at developing a rapport with my students and at making my lessons engaging (I hope). What’s more, I’m not a very organized person, nor am I a gamer.</span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So why does gamification make sense for me?</span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gamification is the direction the world is heading for a very simple reason--because it works. It works because it combines the right amount of collaboration with competition. It recognizes progress over grades, effort over results. It makes it okay to try and fail because badges, rewards, and recognition come from the effort--the process. We don’t always have to be perfect in a gamified classroom.</span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I hate exercising, but I know I should do it because it’s good for me. But that knowledge had not been enough to get me to do it in the past. When I bought a Fitbit, I could see tangible results for the progress I had made. I would earn badges for taking extra steps. Seeing the steps my friends had taken on a given day encouraged me to take more. I’m cheering for them, but I’m also competing with them. I may not see immediate physical results from taking 10,000 steps in a day, but I will see fireworks on my Fitbit.</span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Those fireworks give me an immediate sense of accomplishment, and I want to keep on because that makes me feel good. Accomplishing goals, solving problems, working with others, and being recognized releases the <b><i>dopamine</i></b> that encourages me to keep going--even when I don’t necessarily feel like it.</span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Transferring this idea to your classroom can make your students feel the same way.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It might seem overwhelming at first, but it's definitely worth it in the long run. Below I've listed resources that will help you get started gamifying today.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><h3 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Resources for Learning More about Gamification</span></span></h3><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://bit.ly/2utYjhz" target="_blank"><img alt="For my fourth post in my Summer Professional Development series, I'm talking about using gamification for classroom management. You might be wondering why I'm advocating games for behavior control, but that's not quite it. Click through to read how we can adapt gamification to the classroom." border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="737" data-pin-description="For my fourth post in my Summer Professional Development series, I'm talking about using gamification for classroom management. You might be wondering why I'm advocating games for behavior control, but that's not quite it. Click through to read how we can adapt gamification to the classroom." height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VZYLV0VMnnM/WYX31z_SUBI/AAAAAAAAEHA/89zkOBnUHPoOWvDSA4K6db8j4rBq1_3kgCLcBGAs/s320/Cleary%2BGamification%2BPinterest%2B.png" title="For my fourth post in my Summer Professional Development series, I'm talking about using gamification for classroom management. You might be wondering why I'm advocating games for behavior control, but that's not quite it. Click through to read how we can adapt gamification to the classroom." width="208" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://bit.ly/2utYjhz" target="_blank">Get it HERE!</a></b></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is my <b><a href="http://bit.ly/2utYjhz" target="_blank">simple method</a></b>, complete with instructional video, organizational spread sheet, note and planning sheets, editable classroom templates, and example. You can use classroom technology...or not.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5Qjuegtiyc" target="_blank">video</a></b> explains why gamification is the wave of the future in the classroom, office, and beyond.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This <b><a href="http://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/how-to-gamify-your-classroom/" target="_blank">article</a></b> provides specific ideas for gamifying your classroom.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/trends-shifts/12-examples-of-gamification-in-the-classroom/" target="_blank"><b>Here</b></a> are examples of gamification in the classroom.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.classcraft.com/#modal-iste-2017" target="_blank">Classcraft</a></b> is a great tool for gamifying--especially in middle school. Most teachers I've spoken with find it a bit complicated but like it once they learn how to use it.</span></span></div><h3><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Remember...</b></span></h3><div><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wcL1_O-Foyw/WYX3mAIUTUI/AAAAAAAAEG8/EVbE-QoZf08W2Snqri63AQ9Y1fvTLO3JgCLcBGAs/s1600/gamification%2Btwitter%2B2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="For my fourth post in my Summer Professional Development series, I'm talking about using gamification for classroom management. You might be wondering why I'm advocating games for behavior control, but that's not quite it. Click through to read how we can adapt gamification to the classroom." border="0" data-original-height="324" data-original-width="648" data-pin-nopin="nopin" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wcL1_O-Foyw/WYX3mAIUTUI/AAAAAAAAEG8/EVbE-QoZf08W2Snqri63AQ9Y1fvTLO3JgCLcBGAs/s400/gamification%2Btwitter%2B2.png" title="For my fourth post in my Summer Professional Development series, I'm talking about using gamification for classroom management. You might be wondering why I'm advocating games for behavior control, but that's not quite it. Click through to read how we can adapt gamification to the classroom." width="400" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We need to model for our students that true learning doesn't just happen. It takes hard work, it takes starts and stops, it takes failure....</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Success doesn't come from playing it safe, but standardized tests and grades in school reinforce in our students that it does. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It's time to turn that notion on its head. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Since I don't tie gamification in my classroom to grades, it helps students do just that: Take risks. Fail. Try again. Be creative.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Students earn experience points (XP) by coming to class prepared, being on time, completing creative extension assignments, problem-solving, coming in for extra help, retaking tests and quizzes, and so on.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gamification naturally fosters a growth mindset. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So don't be afraid to try gamification. It won't be perfect at first, but that is how we learn.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Do you gamify? How do you implement it? Leave a comment below and let me know!</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;</span></span><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span>Leah Clearyhttps://plus.google.com/112034139671515193206noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490708975258688106.post-33132071469628884902017-07-13T12:28:00.000-07:002017-07-13T12:46:16.487-07:00Back to School Tech: Turn Your Vacation into a Lesson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d95Wt145-p0/WWe-aoJhsTI/AAAAAAAAD0Y/JRy2dXrmwQcUG0rjmX9mkkC8UDXMamBcQCLcBGAs/s1600/Vacation%2Bto%2BLesson%2BF.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="As part of my Summer Professional Development series, I've got the third post for you, which is all about how to turn your vacation into a lesson. Learn how to use a choice board to help students use technology to get to know one another and share about their summer vacations. Click through to get the full tutorial!" border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="1536" data-pin-description="As part of my Summer Professional Development series, I've got the third post for you, which is all about how to turn your vacation into a lesson. Learn how to use a choice board to help students use technology to get to know one another and share about their summer vacations. Click through to get the full tutorial!" height="334" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d95Wt145-p0/WWe-aoJhsTI/AAAAAAAAD0Y/JRy2dXrmwQcUG0rjmX9mkkC8UDXMamBcQCLcBGAs/s640/Vacation%2Bto%2BLesson%2BF.png" title="As part of my Summer Professional Development series, I've got the third post for you, which is all about how to turn your vacation into a lesson. Learn how to use a choice board to help students use technology to get to know one another and share about their summer vacations. Click through to get the full tutorial!" width="640" /></a></div>This is the third post in my summer professional development series. So far, I've written about <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/06/infusing-tech-one-lesson-at-time.html" target="_blank">Infusing Tech One Lesson at a Time</a></b> and <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/07/easy-tools-to-techify-your-classroom.html" target="_blank">Easy Tools to Techify Your Classroom</a></b>.<br /><br />This week, I want to consider how to turn summer vacation into a back to school lesson. But not just any back to school lesson--one that serves a dual purpose:<br /><br />1. Allowing the students to get to know you and one another<br />2. Introducing technology tools that the students will be using all year long.<br /><br />First, I have written about the back to school activity I have created. Then, I have offered a short guide for you to use in creating your own.<br /><h3>How I Turned My Vacation into a Lesson</h3><div>One of the questions I challenged myself to consider this summer was, "How will I give an overview of some of the tech we'll be using this year without putting the kids to sleep?" And also without wasting a ton of time, which we never seem to have enough of.</div><div><br /></div><div>An idea came to me when I was looking over some of the "getting to know you" activities that I've used in the past to help foster an environment of collaboration. Why not combine the two? Why not integrate the tech introduction into a "getting to know you" activity?</div><div><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F8c_tHDGDIU/WWe-kzesw8I/AAAAAAAAD0c/GQtO1iUIa1gvXDs378pAJe954wjHXWDxACLcBGAs/s1600/Vacation%2Bto%2BLesson%2BPinterest.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="As part of my Summer Professional Development series, I've got the third post for you, which is all about how to turn your vacation into a lesson. Learn how to use a choice board to help students use technology to get to know one another and share about their summer vacations. Click through to get the full tutorial!" border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="737" data-pin-description="As part of my Summer Professional Development series, I've got the third post for you, which is all about how to turn your vacation into a lesson. Learn how to use a choice board to help students use technology to get to know one another and share about their summer vacations. Click through to get the full tutorial!" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F8c_tHDGDIU/WWe-kzesw8I/AAAAAAAAD0c/GQtO1iUIa1gvXDs378pAJe954wjHXWDxACLcBGAs/s320/Vacation%2Bto%2BLesson%2BPinterest.png" title="As part of my Summer Professional Development series, I've got the third post for you, which is all about how to turn your vacation into a lesson. Learn how to use a choice board to help students use technology to get to know one another and share about their summer vacations. Click through to get the full tutorial!" width="208" /></a></div><div>I teach a diverse set of students, so thinking of something that will apply to them all is no simple task.</div><div><br /></div><div>I started by considering common ground that all students will have at the beginning of the year. <br />And I thought of one thing--they are all returning from summer vacation.</div><div><br /></div><div>Summer vacation means different things to different students. For some, it will mean trips to Europe. For others, it will mean forty hours behind a cash register. Sadly, for still others, it will mean having to worry about where their next meal will come from.</div><div><br /></div><div>But they are all returning from summer break.</div><div><br /></div><div>So I centered this lesson around that theme. And because our students are so diverse, I centered it around choice. The assignment looks roughly like this:</div><div><br /></div><div>-A choice board with nine tasks. Students select one task from each row to complete.</div><div>-Each task requires using a technology tool to complete.</div><div>-Each tool is demonstrated through a video tutorial.</div><div>-Students bring the tasks together into a Google Slides Presentation (so they can familiarize themselves with that particular tool).</div><div>-They share the presentation in Google Classroom.</div><div>-Students review one another's presentations and use them to complete a scavenger hunt.</div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://bit.ly/2uefJTp" target="_blank"><img alt="As part of my Summer Professional Development series, I've got the third post for you, which is all about how to turn your vacation into a lesson. Learn how to use a choice board to help students use technology to get to know one another and share about their summer vacations. Click through to get the full tutorial!" border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1056" data-pin-description="As part of my Summer Professional Development series, I've got the third post for you, which is all about how to turn your vacation into a lesson. Learn how to use a choice board to help students use technology to get to know one another and share about their summer vacations. Click through to get the full tutorial!" height="308" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9FOuJhs2qTI/WWfDDQr73HI/AAAAAAAAD0k/RRnx6zl_TqI7tgvFGKAapPUrD-eZIHuewCLcBGAs/s400/Vacation%2Bto%2BLesson.png" title="As part of my Summer Professional Development series, I've got the third post for you, which is all about how to turn your vacation into a lesson. Learn how to use a choice board to help students use technology to get to know one another and share about their summer vacations. Click through to get the full tutorial!" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://bit.ly/2uefJTp" target="_blank">Get It Here</a></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>If students took pictures over the break (which many of them will have), one of the video tutorials teaches them how to embed those pictures into Flippity Flash Cards and how to create those flash cards.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>If they watched a movie or read a book, one of the tasks shows them how to open a doc, write a short report on it, and then transform the report into a word cloud image.</div><div><br /></div><div>One of the tasks introduces web research tools by requiring them to briefly research one of three topics about summer and use those web tools to organize their research and create a bibliography.</div><div><br /></div><div>I feel like this is a solid back to school activity that accomplishes both goals of establishing a collaborative environment through getting to know one another and of introducing some of the tech tools students will be using all year long and allowing students to become familiar with it.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've made the activity available, complete with video tutorials, examples, choice board, rubric, scavenger hunt, and customizable templates for your classroom. You can get it <b><a href="http://bit.ly/2uefJTp" target="_blank">HERE</a></b>.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you want to start from scratch and make your own to perfectly fit your classroom needs, here's what you'll need to consider.</div><h3>Making Your Own Tech Infused Back to School Activity</h3><div>Start by considering your objectives. What do you hope to accomplish? Then think about add-ons, apps, extensions, and other tools that you plan on using throughout the course. What would it most benefit your students to understand right away? I've described a few useful ones <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/07/easy-tools-to-techify-your-classroom.html" target="_blank">HERE</a></b>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Consider making short video tutorials of each tool so that the activity is self-guided for the students and you don't find yourself answering the same questions repeatedly. You can link to the tutorials right in the project. Then you can add the tutorials to the "About" section of Google Classroom, or whatever classroom app you are using, so that students can refer to them throughout the course as the need arises.</div><div><br /></div><div>An easy and free way to make the tutorials is with Screencastify, a free Google Extension. I have a tutorial for using it <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/06/11-ready-use-screencastify-and-flip.html" target="_blank">HERE</a></b>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then consider the task or tasks you want the students to complete. Do you want the tasks to culminate into a final product or do you just want to leave it as a series of activities or even one activity that requires a few tech tools? How do you want the students to share their creations with the class. Will they present? Will they post them in Classroom? Will they create QR codes?</div><div><br /></div><div>Consider Back to School Activities you have done in the past. Consider how they can be re-purposed with technology.</div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://bit.ly/2uefJTp" target="_blank"><img alt="As part of my Summer Professional Development series, I've got the third post for you, which is all about how to turn your vacation into a lesson. Learn how to use a choice board to help students use technology to get to know one another and share about their summer vacations. Click through to get the full tutorial!" border="0" data-original-height="1056" data-original-width="816" data-pin-description="As part of my Summer Professional Development series, I've got the third post for you, which is all about how to turn your vacation into a lesson. Learn how to use a choice board to help students use technology to get to know one another and share about their summer vacations. Click through to get the full tutorial!" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PB0qdwE7Nws/WWe_O8P9aII/AAAAAAAAD0g/24y5ObS6MCEWCSlFZH7uTH_ZDUbvNWSwgCLcBGAs/s200/Slide1.PNG" title="As part of my Summer Professional Development series, I've got the third post for you, which is all about how to turn your vacation into a lesson. Learn how to use a choice board to help students use technology to get to know one another and share about their summer vacations. Click through to get the full tutorial!" width="154" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://bit.ly/2unKEgj" target="_blank">Download It</a></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>Will you score the activities? What will your guidelines be?</div><div><br /></div><div>Be sure to download <b><a href="http://bit.ly/2unKEgj" target="_blank">this planning sheet</a></b> complete with useful links to help you get started on turning your vacation into a lesson.</div><div><br /></div><div>And don't forget to check back next week to consider the brain benefits of gamifying.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>How will you be handling back to school activities in the blended classroom? Will you "kill two birds with one stone" and use them to introduce technology tools? Leave a comment below and let me know!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><!-- Begin MailChimp Signup Form --><link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-10_7.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><style type="text/css"> #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. 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I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="1536" data-pin-description="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" height="334" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-82-_rNmtBPw/WV5XXqTgj2I/AAAAAAAADgY/a6pY6F_a-DYOyNOsR_eK7feEsua8IIg7wCLcBGAs/s640/Essential%2BTools%2BF.png" title="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" width="640" /></a></div>I am busy this summer working to improve my classroom game for the coming school year (and to catch up on Netflix). I'm sharing the former here in my summer professional development series.<br /><br />Last week, I wrote about Infusing Tech One Lesson at a Time. This week, I want to share some simple tools that will help techify your class.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rVUS-Ccouo0/WV5Xfr1qbnI/AAAAAAAADgc/_pi5p5WaviE-aNoPqYnrbw0aufxwj_U-ACLcBGAs/s1600/Essential%2BTools%2BPinterest.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="737" data-pin-description="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rVUS-Ccouo0/WV5Xfr1qbnI/AAAAAAAADgc/_pi5p5WaviE-aNoPqYnrbw0aufxwj_U-ACLcBGAs/s320/Essential%2BTools%2BPinterest.png" title="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" width="208" /></a></div>There is so much out there, and I discussed some in my Spring Tech Tips series. Today, I want to look at a few Google apps, add-ons, and extensions that can techify your classroom while improving your own and your students' productivity.<br /><br />To offer a quick run-down, apps are basically self-updating programs or websites that are the next generation CDRom (remember those?). Add-ons are tools you can get to add features to Google Docs. Extensions improve the functionality of your web browser. You can grab these tools by visiting the Chrome Web Store.<br /><br />There are so many apps, add-ons, and extensions out there that it's difficult to know where to begin, so I thought I would just pick my two favorite in each category and explain why they're so fantastic.<br /><h3>Techify Your Class with Apps</h3><div>The web's the limit here--literally. But two apps that I want to discuss today are <a href="https://www.mindmup.com/" target="_blank">Mind Mup</a> and <a href="http://gooru.org/welcome/" target="_blank">Gooru</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Mind Mup allows your students to create mind maps--visual content organizers--digitally and then publish them to the web or share them with you.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2Ktt3XcmEpo/WV5TPDwWjqI/AAAAAAAADfw/oHherwssljoYKnOU9cTz5P1TvkFv-nCCwCLcBGAs/s1600/Slide1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1056" data-pin-description="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" height="494" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2Ktt3XcmEpo/WV5TPDwWjqI/AAAAAAAADfw/oHherwssljoYKnOU9cTz5P1TvkFv-nCCwCLcBGAs/s640/Slide1.PNG" title="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><div>Teachers curate the content of the web into lessons in Gooru. Gooru allows you to create classes and give your students codes to join or to share lessons via links. Search Gooru for a topic that you're teaching and units other teachers have created will pop up.</div><div><br /></div><div>The units will include lessons comprised of readings, videos, images, interactive activities, and/or questions. The questions can be formatted several different ways (including multiple choice and free response) and are great to use as formative assessment.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E2lysU38o0E/WV5TbwQ85wI/AAAAAAAADf8/HPVMjMThPRQe5eo6CRxE5hgc3vIY5Le1gCLcBGAs/s1600/Slide2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1056" data-pin-description="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" height="494" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E2lysU38o0E/WV5TbwQ85wI/AAAAAAAADf8/HPVMjMThPRQe5eo6CRxE5hgc3vIY5Le1gCLcBGAs/s640/Slide2.PNG" title="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--TXEnyYoBH8/WV5Tbge7_-I/AAAAAAAADf0/l7Ny3ngx8vIsbkh1jvjJv4QD9EZPlPTpACLcBGAs/s1600/Slide3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1056" data-pin-description="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" height="494" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--TXEnyYoBH8/WV5Tbge7_-I/AAAAAAAADf0/l7Ny3ngx8vIsbkh1jvjJv4QD9EZPlPTpACLcBGAs/s640/Slide3.PNG" title="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><h3>Techify Your Class with Add-Ons</h3><div>Every time I'm working in Docs, Forms, or Sheets, I always think, "I wish there were an add-on that would allow me to do such and such." Then I go to add-ons in the tool bar at the top, do a quick search, and there generally is.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's difficult to narrow add-ons down to just two, but I would have to say that my favorite for Sheets is <a href="http://flippity.net/" target="_blank">Flippity</a> and my favorite for Docs is <a href="http://www.easybib.com/" target="_blank">Easy Bib</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>I would cry bitter tears if Flippity ever disappeared. It's a series of templates designed for non-coding geniuses like me to use in Sheets. With Flippity, you can create flash cards with images and film embedded, quiz games, crossword puzzles, bingo, spinners, progress trackers, and much more.</div><div><br /></div><div>All you do is fill in the template provided with your content, go to file and select "publish to the web," go back to Add-ons, select "Flippity.net," click on the link, and you will be directed to an awesome, interactive activity that you just created on a humble spreadsheet.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W6Mn31Me0-8/WV5TcJjuE3I/AAAAAAAADgA/TvIHsWfWeHoB5XCTanGkVkPDee_3wsl3gCEwYBhgL/s1600/Slide5.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1056" data-pin-description="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" height="494" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W6Mn31Me0-8/WV5TcJjuE3I/AAAAAAAADgA/TvIHsWfWeHoB5XCTanGkVkPDee_3wsl3gCEwYBhgL/s640/Slide5.PNG" title="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uySxIOgpCCw/WV5TcRBpp8I/AAAAAAAADgE/vNlBD9rnSZUYWGvYpKIDNXNUygJ-fPNPQCEwYBhgL/s1600/Slide6.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1056" data-pin-description="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" height="494" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uySxIOgpCCw/WV5TcRBpp8I/AAAAAAAADgE/vNlBD9rnSZUYWGvYpKIDNXNUygJ-fPNPQCEwYBhgL/s640/Slide6.PNG" title="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-93f4fNGphv8/WV5TceLvLaI/AAAAAAAADgI/z5_oiimolKIxrF1zLVcBT1UwggawZr-MACEwYBhgL/s1600/Slide7.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1056" data-pin-description="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" height="494" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-93f4fNGphv8/WV5TceLvLaI/AAAAAAAADgI/z5_oiimolKIxrF1zLVcBT1UwggawZr-MACEwYBhgL/s640/Slide7.PNG" title="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" width="640" /></a></div>The bane of my existence in grad school was bibliographies (and my students never seem to get them right now). I hated lugging around the MLA or APA handbook and checking and double checking that I got the formatting and punctuation just right. Easy Bib now takes care of that headache for us.</div><div><br /></div><div>While typing a paper in Docs, students simply open the add-on. Easy Bib comes up in the right hand pane. Students enter the website URL, book ISBN, or Title, etc. Easy Bib formats, alphabetizes, generates, and inserts your bibliography straight into your Doc.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BObWxSqrpAw/WV5TcnCkX2I/AAAAAAAADgM/SIf1Bg9vb7M0neg0uIl_KFHSFpjrxCOFwCEwYBhgL/s1600/Slide8.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1056" data-pin-description="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" height="494" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BObWxSqrpAw/WV5TcnCkX2I/AAAAAAAADgM/SIf1Bg9vb7M0neg0uIl_KFHSFpjrxCOFwCEwYBhgL/s640/Slide8.PNG" title="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" width="640" /></a></div><br /><h3>Techify Your Class with Extensions</h3><div>Extensions can increase your and your students' productivity. I have chosen to feature two that are perfect for conducting research--<a href="http://getliner.com/" target="_blank">Liner</a> and <a href="http://www.sprintreader.com/" target="_blank">Sprint Reader</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Liner enables you to highlight important text in web articles. It then saves the articles and highlights to your account. I love it because you can then organize the articles into folders by topic. When you go to create your Easy Bib, just open up your Liner Account, and grab the links from there.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L1JoldWz2SE/WV5Tc8SuySI/AAAAAAAADgQ/rIQA0mLW5OsHzC830dKa6oCi9R6fn9PZACEwYBhgL/s1600/Slide9.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1056" data-pin-description="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" height="494" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L1JoldWz2SE/WV5Tc8SuySI/AAAAAAAADgQ/rIQA0mLW5OsHzC830dKa6oCi9R6fn9PZACEwYBhgL/s640/Slide9.PNG" title="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Sprint Reader is a speed-reading extension. It forces you to fly through the text. This is a huge time-saver if you (or your students) are researching a lot of material. You'll be surprised how much information you retain. Then scroll back through the article, and use Liner highlight important points.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mh2-13mTkyQ/WV5TbuH8dpI/AAAAAAAADf4/9GI4_Nzo21ohxogwyujjMPqikI9r4oG3ACEwYBhgL/s1600/Slide10.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1056" data-pin-description="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" height="494" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mh2-13mTkyQ/WV5TbuH8dpI/AAAAAAAADf4/9GI4_Nzo21ohxogwyujjMPqikI9r4oG3ACEwYBhgL/s640/Slide10.PNG" title="I've got some really great, easy tools to recommend in this post that will help you techify your classroom next school year! I'm sharing with you two apps, two add-ons, and two extensions that you can use. This post is part of my Summer Professional Development series, so click through to read about these tech tools and keep up with the rest of the series!" width="640" /></a></div><div>A word of caution here--if you are teaching ESL and struggling learners, do not use Sprint Reader. It will frustrate them. Select an extension that will read the webpage aloud to them instead, such as Read Aloud. The text can even be read in different languages!</div><div><br /></div><div>How do you techify your class? What are your favorite apps, add-ons, and extensions? Leave a comment below to let me know. And don't for get to check back in next week to learn how to turn your vacation into a lesson with tech!</div><br /><h3></h3></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><!-- Begin MailChimp Signup Form --><link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-10_7.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><style type="text/css"> #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. 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This blog post talks about infusing tech one lesson at a time, so click through to read more about adding technology in bite-sized steps." border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="1536" data-pin-nopin="nopin" height="332" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jIcSNuKngok/WVEh85BVgDI/AAAAAAAADQ4/WD4ovcxFdZMv7oDd8jRP5j9K2nLjA7aogCLcBGAs/s640/Infusing%2BTech%2BF.png" title="Technology in the classroom can feel really overwhelming, which is a bummer, since it's so important for instruction. This blog post talks about infusing tech one lesson at a time, so click through to read more about adding technology in bite-sized steps." width="640" /></a></div>One of the greatest gifts of teaching (aside from impacting lives, I know, I know...) is summer break. And it is quite a gift. During the school year, the job is a non-stop, all consuming, emotional roller coaster ride of thrilling highs and jolting lows.<br /><br /><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YG9pvnbcbho/WVEf9AQGhBI/AAAAAAAADQs/_QIzME6t5J8I6SNS5SuRffihHvVV67D8gCLcBGAs/s1600/Infusing%2BTech%2BPinterest.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Technology in the classroom can feel really overwhelming, which is a bummer, since it's so important for instruction. This blog post talks about infusing tech one lesson at a time, so click through to read more about adding technology in bite-sized steps." border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="737" data-pin-description="Technology in the classroom can feel really overwhelming, which is a bummer, since it's so important for instruction. This blog post talks about infusing tech one lesson at a time, so click through to read more about adding technology in bite-sized steps." height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YG9pvnbcbho/WVEf9AQGhBI/AAAAAAAADQs/_QIzME6t5J8I6SNS5SuRffihHvVV67D8gCLcBGAs/s320/Infusing%2BTech%2BPinterest.png" title="Technology in the classroom can feel really overwhelming, which is a bummer, since it's so important for instruction. This blog post talks about infusing tech one lesson at a time, so click through to read more about adding technology in bite-sized steps." width="208" /></a>But I wouldn't have it any other way. And I wouldn't want to do anything else.<br /><br />So I always grab the gift of summer to rest, spend time with family, hopefully go on a trip, and to work on my craft (teaching, not Netflix, though sometimes it may seem like it's the latter).<br /><br />If I spend year after year doing the same thing in my classroom, I feel like I've wasted the summer. One of the greatest gifts of this time (aside from the family thing) is that it's a chance to grow professionally--to learn new things--to work on our craft as teachers.<br /><br />This summer, I'm sharing my professional development with you, my colleagues, and I hope you will do the same with me, whether it's in the comments here, on Facebook, or by email.<br /><br />I asked what you wanted to learn more about professionally this summer, and I decided to focus my own development around those things.<br /><br />These were your top responses--edtech, brain-based learning, coaching and mentoring, and social studies instruction. So, based on your feedback, here's the plan for my summer professional development blog series (and by the way--the underlying theme for everything will be tech, as more and more of us will be taking the 1:1 leap in the fall, and coaching other teachers through the process):<br /><br /><b>1. Infusing Tech One Lesson at a Time</b><br />A method for integrating technology mindfully without completely overwhelming yourself<br /><br /><b>2. Easy Tools to Techify Your Class</b><br />Simple and free/cheap tools that will make teaching with technology pay off<br /><br /><b>3. Turn Your Vacation into a Lesson</b><br />Using that trip you took this summer as part of an engaging, techified lesson<br /><br /><b>4. The Brain Benefits of Gamifying</b><br />Why gamifying your classroom can help students learn and a model for implementing<br /><br />So, here is my first Summer Professional Development Blog Post:<br /><h3>Infusing Tech One Lesson at a Time</h3><div>Creating lessons is just one part of a teacher's job, but it's a huge job. Planning the same way we always have can take up an enormous part of our time, so being asked to integrate technology into our lessons (especially if we're not sure where to begin) can be overwhelming to say the least.</div><div><br /></div><div>That's why we should do it mindfully--with a plan, and not just for the sake of adding technology. A framework for doing this can help us get started.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dr. Ruben Puentedura has offered a useful framework for educators with his SAMR Model. The model is helpful in guiding us through integrating technology, but first we have to understand how to use it.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I want to take us through the steps as simply as I know how by both explaining the framework and going through the steps with one of my own lessons. I'm going to use a lesson that I'm working on right now. It's from my next pen and paper <b><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Leah-Cleary/Category/Sociology-Interactive-Notebooks-276540" target="_blank">sociology interactive notebook</a></b>.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I generally create the paper-based lessons first because that's how I think, and then I go back and look for areas that would particularly </span>benefit<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;from the addition of technology to blend.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here is my simplified version of the SAMR Model:</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gIf-0cYGQNw/WVEZ49mOyUI/AAAAAAAADQc/N5hQVcXISrYuukLkwtQULhmTybvLX73ywCLcBGAs/s1600/Infusing%2BTech%2BSAMR%2B1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Technology in the classroom can feel really overwhelming, which is a bummer, since it's so important for instruction. This blog post talks about infusing tech one lesson at a time, so click through to read more about adding technology in bite-sized steps." border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1056" data-pin-nopin="nopin" height="494" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gIf-0cYGQNw/WVEZ49mOyUI/AAAAAAAADQc/N5hQVcXISrYuukLkwtQULhmTybvLX73ywCLcBGAs/s640/Infusing%2BTech%2BSAMR%2B1.png" title="Technology in the classroom can feel really overwhelming, which is a bummer, since it's so important for instruction. This blog post talks about infusing tech one lesson at a time, so click through to read more about adding technology in bite-sized steps." width="640" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div>I think of SAMR as a staircase. The first step is to simply incorporate technology, but as we progress upward, we are actually using technology to transform our lessons into an experience that couldn't be had without tech.</div><h3>Step 1: Ask Yourself the Questions</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Xy00_0dKX3Y/WVDnhkILhxI/AAAAAAAADN8/CfO5lfb771wx32h5JcdJOshE172JvNTVACLcBGAs/s1600/Infusing%2BTech%2BSAMR%2B2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Technology in the classroom can feel really overwhelming, which is a bummer, since it's so important for instruction. This blog post talks about infusing tech one lesson at a time, so click through to read more about adding technology in bite-sized steps." border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1056" data-pin-nopin="nopin" height="494" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Xy00_0dKX3Y/WVDnhkILhxI/AAAAAAAADN8/CfO5lfb771wx32h5JcdJOshE172JvNTVACLcBGAs/s640/Infusing%2BTech%2BSAMR%2B2.png" title="Technology in the classroom can feel really overwhelming, which is a bummer, since it's so important for instruction. This blog post talks about infusing tech one lesson at a time, so click through to read more about adding technology in bite-sized steps." width="640" /></a></div><h3>Step 2: Substitution</h3><div>My next step will be to incorporate technology through substitution. I can take my lecture, and condense it into a brief film. The film will be linked to a <b><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Leah-Cleary/Category/Google-and-One-Drive-Digital-Classroom-230969" target="_blank">Google Slides activity</a></b> that will do away with the Foldable Graphic Organizer and the copying, cutting, and pasting.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>So the point of the substitution here will be to save time and resources on copying and manipulating paper products and to make the lesson more student focused by eliminating the lengthy lecture. Here are before and after pics:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BUdiuQciee0/WVDsYnche0I/AAAAAAAADOM/HNZWCgkLeOU9v2W8YQEgOzyHTYHHMo4bgCLcBGAs/s1600/Infusing%2BTech%2BSAMR%2B3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Technology in the classroom can feel really overwhelming, which is a bummer, since it's so important for instruction. This blog post talks about infusing tech one lesson at a time, so click through to read more about adding technology in bite-sized steps." border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1056" data-pin-nopin="nopin" height="494" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BUdiuQciee0/WVDsYnche0I/AAAAAAAADOM/HNZWCgkLeOU9v2W8YQEgOzyHTYHHMo4bgCLcBGAs/s640/Infusing%2BTech%2BSAMR%2B3.png" title="Technology in the classroom can feel really overwhelming, which is a bummer, since it's so important for instruction. This blog post talks about infusing tech one lesson at a time, so click through to read more about adding technology in bite-sized steps." width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bf2YSaEelvA/WVDuVgzJyUI/AAAAAAAADOY/ttFhvGe_svgQplxDxEM7WHxZDFLGQP1uQCLcBGAs/s1600/Infusing%2BTech%2BSAMR%2B4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Technology in the classroom can feel really overwhelming, which is a bummer, since it's so important for instruction. This blog post talks about infusing tech one lesson at a time, so click through to read more about adding technology in bite-sized steps." border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1056" data-pin-nopin="nopin" height="494" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bf2YSaEelvA/WVDuVgzJyUI/AAAAAAAADOY/ttFhvGe_svgQplxDxEM7WHxZDFLGQP1uQCLcBGAs/s640/Infusing%2BTech%2BSAMR%2B4.png" title="Technology in the classroom can feel really overwhelming, which is a bummer, since it's so important for instruction. This blog post talks about infusing tech one lesson at a time, so click through to read more about adding technology in bite-sized steps." width="640" /></a></div>As you can see, students completed the same task they would have before adding tech, but we saved paper and time by substituting technology. Of course, by adding URLs, I did cross over into augmentation just a bit, but this is basically pure substitution.<br /><h3>Step 3: Augmentation</h3><div>Now, I'll refer back to my answers in step one and find the ideal place for augmentation, that is, enhancing with tech what I was doing before. The ideal place for this is with formative assessment.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>I decided what students needed for formative assessment is immediate feedback. I love exit tickets, but I usually don't return them to the students until the next day. I can remedy that by turning my exit ticket into an exit quiz, and placing it on a self-grading Google Form, so that it will look like this:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_yREnRyEjho/WVD2tM7kTyI/AAAAAAAADOo/fZ4Bq4H0kXkuaUcRfdEPkgAMwZn4YacRgCLcBGAs/s1600/Infusing%2BTech%2BSAMR%2B5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Technology in the classroom can feel really overwhelming, which is a bummer, since it's so important for instruction. This blog post talks about infusing tech one lesson at a time, so click through to read more about adding technology in bite-sized steps." border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1056" data-pin-nopin="nopin" height="494" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_yREnRyEjho/WVD2tM7kTyI/AAAAAAAADOo/fZ4Bq4H0kXkuaUcRfdEPkgAMwZn4YacRgCLcBGAs/s640/Infusing%2BTech%2BSAMR%2B5.png" title="Technology in the classroom can feel really overwhelming, which is a bummer, since it's so important for instruction. This blog post talks about infusing tech one lesson at a time, so click through to read more about adding technology in bite-sized steps." width="640" /></a></div><div><br /><b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/01/using-google-forms-to-create-self.html" target="_blank">Here</a></b> is a link to a blog post about how to use the self-grading quiz feature in Google Forms in case you's like to augment your quizzes. :)<br /><h3>Step 4: Modification</h3></div><div>With this step, we delve a bit deeper into tech infusion. We're taking something we were doing before, in this case, my Types of Societies Mini-Book, and we're redesigning it so that the new product must be created using technology.</div><div><br /></div><div>In this case, I used a website called <b><a href="https://www.mindmup.com/" target="_blank">mindmup.com</a></b> to create a digital Types of Societies Mind Map. Here's the before and after:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t-cclwJxY7w/WVEJ_pmsMCI/AAAAAAAADPw/aHILNOgMGJEDYkEffiO1YxThpIv_jS50gCLcBGAs/s1600/Infusing%2BTech%2BSAMR%2B6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Technology in the classroom can feel really overwhelming, which is a bummer, since it's so important for instruction. This blog post talks about infusing tech one lesson at a time, so click through to read more about adding technology in bite-sized steps." border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1056" data-pin-nopin="nopin" height="494" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t-cclwJxY7w/WVEJ_pmsMCI/AAAAAAAADPw/aHILNOgMGJEDYkEffiO1YxThpIv_jS50gCLcBGAs/s640/Infusing%2BTech%2BSAMR%2B6.png" title="Technology in the classroom can feel really overwhelming, which is a bummer, since it's so important for instruction. This blog post talks about infusing tech one lesson at a time, so click through to read more about adding technology in bite-sized steps." width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AuyDaP9r5eA/WVEK2w-xu1I/AAAAAAAADP4/XNYeokkS8oEFo4wOPJxp26qP89CujhEwACLcBGAs/s1600/Infusing%2BTech%2BSAMR%2B7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Technology in the classroom can feel really overwhelming, which is a bummer, since it's so important for instruction. This blog post talks about infusing tech one lesson at a time, so click through to read more about adding technology in bite-sized steps." border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1056" data-pin-nopin="nopin" height="494" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AuyDaP9r5eA/WVEK2w-xu1I/AAAAAAAADP4/XNYeokkS8oEFo4wOPJxp26qP89CujhEwACLcBGAs/s640/Infusing%2BTech%2BSAMR%2B7.png" title="Technology in the classroom can feel really overwhelming, which is a bummer, since it's so important for instruction. This blog post talks about infusing tech one lesson at a time, so click through to read more about adding technology in bite-sized steps." width="640" /></a></div><div>Students could feasibly create this by hand, but they wouldn't have the resources of the web or the power to digitally share.</div><h3>Step 5: Redefinition</h3><div>Redefinition is at the top of that golden stairway to technology heaven--the ultimate goal--the purpose of which is to redefine teaching and learning by implementing tasks that would not be possible without technology.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dblcQLAsgFo/WVET3DHFBmI/AAAAAAAADQI/lLcwAu3TUiwkhwapLtiLPyKgdQkg6Mw3gCLcBGAs/s1600/Infusing%2BTech%2BSAMR%2B8.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Technology in the classroom can feel really overwhelming, which is a bummer, since it's so important for instruction. This blog post talks about infusing tech one lesson at a time, so click through to read more about adding technology in bite-sized steps." border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1056" data-pin-nopin="nopin" height="494" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dblcQLAsgFo/WVET3DHFBmI/AAAAAAAADQI/lLcwAu3TUiwkhwapLtiLPyKgdQkg6Mw3gCLcBGAs/s640/Infusing%2BTech%2BSAMR%2B8.png" title="Technology in the classroom can feel really overwhelming, which is a bummer, since it's so important for instruction. This blog post talks about infusing tech one lesson at a time, so click through to read more about adding technology in bite-sized steps." width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><div>In the "Before" scenario, we are more than likely modifying because students will probably use the web to research their careers and presentation software to compile their presentations; however, in the absence of technology, they could research using books in the library and present by writing a paper or creating a poster or the like.<br /><br />But the "After" scenario is redefinition because in the absence of technology students would not be able to reach out to and interview face-to-face via Hangouts or Skype employees from all over the world in their chosen careers.<br /><h3>The Takeaway</h3></div><div>SAMR is a useful model for incorporating technology into your lessons. Many of us have no idea where to begin and SAMR enables us to start on the ground floor and work our way up the stairs at our own pace.</div><div><br /></div><div>I would add that even though redefinition is the ultimate goal, no matter how adept at infusing the tech we may become, we should never discount the bottom stair, nor even the ground floor.</div><div><br /></div><div>There will always be times when substitution is appropriate or even just good old fashioned pen and paper work. Technology has opened so many possibilities in education, and we should not discount it. But we should not discount more traditional methods, as well, when they, too, are appropriate.</div><div><br /></div><div>How have you infused your lessons with tech? How do you plan to in the upcoming year? Leave a comment below, and let me know. And don't forget to check out "Easy Tools to Techify Your Class" here next week!<br /><br /><!-- Begin MailChimp Signup Form --><link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-10_7.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><style type="text/css"> #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ </style><br /><div id="mc_embed_signup"><form action="//blogspot.us10.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=186b802153fb21547cca716cb&amp;id=6a65daf72b" class="validate" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" method="post" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" novalidate="" target="_blank"><div id="mc_embed_signup_scroll"><h2>Subscribe to our mailing list</h2><div class="indicates-required"><span class="asterisk">*</span> indicates required</div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-EMAIL">Email Address <span class="asterisk">*</span></label> <input class="required email" id="mce-EMAIL" name="EMAIL" type="email" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-FNAME">First Name </label> <input class="" id="mce-FNAME" name="FNAME" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-LNAME">Last Name </label> <input class="" id="mce-LNAME" name="LNAME" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group input-group"><strong>Email Format </strong> <br /><ul><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-0" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="html" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-0">html</label></li><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-1" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="text" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-1">text</label></li></ul></div><div class="clear" id="mce-responses"><div class="response" id="mce-error-response" style="display: none;"></div><div class="response" id="mce-success-response" style="display: none;"></div></div><!-- real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups--> <br /><div aria-hidden="true" style="left: -5000px; position: absolute;"><input name="b_186b802153fb21547cca716cb_6a65daf72b" tabindex="-1" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="clear"><input class="button" id="mc-embedded-subscribe" name="subscribe" type="submit" value="Subscribe" /></div></div></form></div><script src="//s3.amazonaws.com/downloads.mailchimp.com/js/mc-validate.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script type="text/javascript">(function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true);</script><!--End mc_embed_signup--><br /><div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Sources Consulted</b></span></span></div><div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"></div><div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Brown, P. (2017). A Guide for Bringing the SAMR Model to iPads - </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">EdSurge</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> News. [online] </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">EdSurge</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. Available at: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2015-02-06-a-guide-for-bringing-the-samr-model-to-ipads [Accessed 26 Jun. 2017</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">].</span></span></div><div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"></div><div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Holt, T. (2017). Digital Discoveries - Intro to SAMR. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn1nHgFesUs [Accessed 26 Jun. 2017].</span></span></div><div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"></div><div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Puentedura</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, R. (2017). </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Hippasus</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. [online] Hippasus.com. Available at: http://www.hippasus.com/ [Accessed 26 Jun. 2017</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">].</span></span></div><div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-top: 0pt; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">Schrock, K. (2017).&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">SAMR</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">. [online] Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything. Available at: http://www.schrockguide.net/samr.html [Accessed 26 Jun. 2017].</span></div><div><br /></div>Leah Clearyhttps://plus.google.com/112034139671515193206noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490708975258688106.post-777951988504045512017-06-13T21:05:00.001-07:002017-06-15T05:42:41.177-07:00Spring Tech Tip 1: Set Custom Start and End Times on YouTube Videos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7uedBNfWCXw/WUCwe45FFYI/AAAAAAAADMs/KPNrTtREVyo8V-Ivgey3EOo0UjzuomVpQCLcBGAs/s1600/Custom%2BStart%2BEnd%2BTimes%2BF.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="If you use YouTube video clips in your class, then you know how annoying it can be to start and stop at the right places in the video clip. No need to mess with that any longer! Spring Tech Tip 1 is all about how to set custom start and end times on YouTube videos! It couldn't be any easier, so click through to read how." border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="1536" data-pin-description="If you use YouTube video clips in your class, then you know how annoying it can be to start and stop at the right places in the video clip. No need to mess with that any longer! Spring Tech Tip 1 is all about how to set custom start and end times on YouTube videos! It couldn't be any easier, so click through to read how." height="332" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7uedBNfWCXw/WUCwe45FFYI/AAAAAAAADMs/KPNrTtREVyo8V-Ivgey3EOo0UjzuomVpQCLcBGAs/s640/Custom%2BStart%2BEnd%2BTimes%2BF.png" title="If you use YouTube video clips in your class, then you know how annoying it can be to start and stop at the right places in the video clip. No need to mess with that any longer! Spring Tech Tip 1 is all about how to set custom start and end times on YouTube videos! It couldn't be any easier, so click through to read how." width="640" /></a></div><div>Have you ever come across a Youtube video that is really, really long, but there's a three or four minute segment that would be perfect for your class? Remember when YouTube had the feature in drop down that allowed you to start and end at a certain point?</div><div>Well, they took that one away.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C3t4Vn4GaeQ/WUCwpgy8ALI/AAAAAAAADMw/N_tKnaJhiakWWl6eaF8dWdDxMeG5kXMDQCLcBGAs/s1600/Custom%2BStart%2BEnd%2BTimes%2BPinterest.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="If you use YouTube video clips in your class, then you know how annoying it can be to start and stop at the right places in the video clip. No need to mess with that any longer! Spring Tech Tip 1 is all about how to set custom start and end times on YouTube videos! It couldn't be any easier, so click through to read how." border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="737" data-pin-description="If you use YouTube video clips in your class, then you know how annoying it can be to start and stop at the right places in the video clip. No need to mess with that any longer! Spring Tech Tip 1 is all about how to set custom start and end times on YouTube videos! It couldn't be any easier, so click through to read how." height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C3t4Vn4GaeQ/WUCwpgy8ALI/AAAAAAAADMw/N_tKnaJhiakWWl6eaF8dWdDxMeG5kXMDQCLcBGAs/s320/Custom%2BStart%2BEnd%2BTimes%2BPinterest.png" title="If you use YouTube video clips in your class, then you know how annoying it can be to start and stop at the right places in the video clip. No need to mess with that any longer! Spring Tech Tip 1 is all about how to set custom start and end times on YouTube videos! It couldn't be any easier, so click through to read how." width="208" /></a>But then you could change the URL, and that would allow you to do the same thing. But you had to add up the time that you wanted to start and end in seconds (which is annoying for the mathematically challenged like yours truly), and YouTube changed the code a couple of times, and I found all of that really frustrating.</div><div><br /></div><div>So I began just opening up a YouTube clip for class and advancing to the place where I wanted to start, but sometimes, I would forget to stop in the right place. All teachers know what a problem that can be, especially when you're trying to avoid a certain image or a certain word.</div><div><br /></div><div>That's why I was particularly thrilled to discover a website that creates a link that takes you to your very own custom "snipped" YouTube video.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm sure I'm behind the times on this one, but if I am, I'm sure this would help others, too, right?&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>So here's my last Spring Tech Tip of the 2016-2017 School Year (don't worry--more in-depth posts coming this summer!):</div><h3>How to Set Custom Start and End Times on YouTube Videos:</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div>First, go to this website:&nbsp;http://www.youtubestartend.com/&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>From there, follow these instructions:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I2-9IJ8K6pI/WUCftG7sosI/AAAAAAAADLw/rvR5YWNfwd82R9OQqPEjGBRPN-g6DqpnACLcBGAs/s1600/Custom%2BStart%2BEnd%2BTimes.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="If you use YouTube video clips in your class, then you know how annoying it can be to start and stop at the right places in the video clip. No need to mess with that any longer! Spring Tech Tip 1 is all about how to set custom start and end times on YouTube videos! It couldn't be any easier, so click through to read how." border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1056" data-pin-description="If you use YouTube video clips in your class, then you know how annoying it can be to start and stop at the right places in the video clip. No need to mess with that any longer! Spring Tech Tip 1 is all about how to set custom start and end times on YouTube videos! It couldn't be any easier, so click through to read how." height="494" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I2-9IJ8K6pI/WUCftG7sosI/AAAAAAAADLw/rvR5YWNfwd82R9OQqPEjGBRPN-g6DqpnACLcBGAs/s640/Custom%2BStart%2BEnd%2BTimes.png" title="If you use YouTube video clips in your class, then you know how annoying it can be to start and stop at the right places in the video clip. No need to mess with that any longer! Spring Tech Tip 1 is all about how to set custom start and end times on YouTube videos! It couldn't be any easier, so click through to read how." width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><h3>Watch how simple it is:</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fd4M-uMhTHw/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fd4M-uMhTHw?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div><div>What's your favorite quick and simple classroom tech tip? Leave a comment below and let me know! Also, be sure to check out my other easy Spring Tech Tips!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><style> .HeaderText { margin-bottom: 10px; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; } .BlogButton { float: left; margin: 4px; } .ButtonGroup { margin-bottom: 20px; } .CatagoryText { font-size: 50px; font-weight: bolder; color: #000000; text-decoration: none; clear: both; padding-top: 35px; } .BodyText { font-size: 20px; font-weight: bolder; color: #000000; text-decoration: none; clear: both; padding-top: 35px; } .Credits { margin-top: 100px; } img.BlogButton { border: none; width: 115.05px; height: 176.25px; } </style> <br /><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-7-add-variety-with.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Spring Tech Tip 7: Add Variety with Learning Apps" class="BlogButton" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E9D7I096rZc/WOxl7Uge0FI/AAAAAAAAC_Y/Gri0r8fgl4oFD1zgWnUuy5Hfhcamf_lTACLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" title="Spring Tech Tip 7: Add Variety with Learning Apps" /></a></div><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-6-wake-up-presentations.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Spring Tech Tip 6: Wake Up Presentations with Poll Everywhere" class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2-s3DmPDF9A/WPVg87HPGCI/AAAAAAAADAg/-F_0kDJ3NBIAaFBHNlgEdIXUnYvoZRogQCLcB/s320/Wake%2BUp%2BPresentations%2Bwith%2BPoll%2BEverywhere%2BPinterest.png" title="Spring Tech Tip 6: Wake Up Presentations with Poll Everywhere" /></a></div><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-5-type-in-present-mode.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Spring Tech Tip 5: How to Type in Present Mode with PowerPoint" class="BlogButton" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V8Rt7Kdp7xI/WQY23dmyb4I/AAAAAAAADFk/Nd5QBD7eH_w1VlMOBresiuWGDZUBwSqsgCLcB/s320/How%2Bto%2BType%2Bin%2BPresent%2BMode%2Bin%2BPowerPoint.png" title="Spring Tech Tip 5: How to Type in Present Mode with PowerPoint" /></a></div><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-4-get-started-with.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Spring Tech Tip 4: Getting Started with EDpuzzle" class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fSsT4uM1JcE/WRJY6XvEYHI/AAAAAAAADGw/jZH8RBypkh82uyPx88zRrqTYhHJujC7ZACLcB/s320/Get%2BStarted%2Bwith%2BEDpuzzles%2B%25281%2529.png" title="Spring Tech Tip 4: Getting Started with EDpuzzle" /></a></div><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-3-customize-your-google.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Spring Tech Tip 3: Customize Your Google Classroom Theme" class="BlogButton" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X8R0dCDLfts/WRt0IcJAXQI/AAAAAAAADHc/O1QY6ulsdtUXoJ-WKgwk6G5EC6aGoEs8gCLcB/s320/Customize%2BYour%2BGoogle%2BClassroom%2BTheme.png" title="Spring Tech Tip 3: Customize Your Google Classroom Theme" /></a></div><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-2-give.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Spring Tech Tip 2: Give Super Teacher Tools a Try" class="BlogButton" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RbcRAx1czt0/WSTsVDwYaGI/AAAAAAAADJU/c4OGIrMGJzkN59rmZuNI0E2y-yEzXx_VgCLcB/s320/Super%2BTeacher%2BTools%2BP.png" title="Spring Tech Tip 2: Give Super Teacher Tools a Try" /></a></div><!-- Begin MailChimp Signup Form --><link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-10_7.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><style type="text/css"> #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ </style><br /><div id="mc_embed_signup"><form action="//blogspot.us10.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=186b802153fb21547cca716cb&amp;id=6a65daf72b" class="validate" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" method="post" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" novalidate="" target="_blank"><div id="mc_embed_signup_scroll"><h2>Subscribe to our mailing list</h2><div class="indicates-required"><span class="asterisk">*</span> indicates required</div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-EMAIL">Email Address <span class="asterisk">*</span></label> <input class="required email" id="mce-EMAIL" name="EMAIL" type="email" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-FNAME">First Name </label> <input class="" id="mce-FNAME" name="FNAME" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-LNAME">Last Name </label> <input class="" id="mce-LNAME" name="LNAME" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group input-group"><strong>Email Format </strong> <br /><ul><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-0" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="html" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-0">html</label></li><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-1" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="text" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-1">text</label></li></ul></div><div class="clear" id="mce-responses"><div class="response" id="mce-error-response" style="display: none;"></div><div class="response" id="mce-success-response" style="display: none;"></div></div><!-- real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups--> <br /><div aria-hidden="true" style="left: -5000px; position: absolute;"><input name="b_186b802153fb21547cca716cb_6a65daf72b" tabindex="-1" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="clear"><input class="button" id="mc-embedded-subscribe" name="subscribe" type="submit" value="Subscribe" /></div></div></form></div><script src="//s3.amazonaws.com/downloads.mailchimp.com/js/mc-validate.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script type="text/javascript">(function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true);</script><!--End mc_embed_signup-->Leah Clearyhttps://plus.google.com/112034139671515193206noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490708975258688106.post-37959086835192843572017-05-23T19:27:00.000-07:002017-06-13T21:14:47.656-07:00Spring Tech Tip 2: Give SuperTeacherTools a Try<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-COztpKh27tw/WSTrtsPuj8I/AAAAAAAADJM/RsLwpWnHhqAzbBuUEX68ceSxgoiG5spUgCLcB/s1600/Super%2BTeacher%2BTools%2BF.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" border="0" data-pin-description="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" height="207" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-COztpKh27tw/WSTrtsPuj8I/AAAAAAAADJM/RsLwpWnHhqAzbBuUEX68ceSxgoiG5spUgCLcB/s400/Super%2BTeacher%2BTools%2BF.png" title="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" width="400" /></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m counting down to summer with SIMPLE Spring Tech Tips because, let’s face it, we still need to engage our students right up to the bitter end, but none of us need anything complicated in our lives at this point.</span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-ca493e33-35ec-023f-a85c-90a9a7605289" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So far, I’ve talked about using </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-7-add-variety-with.html" target="_blank">Learningapps</a></b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for quick reviews, making your PowerPoint presentations interactive with </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-6-wake-up-presentations.html" target="_blank">Poll Everywhere</a></b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-5-type-in-present-mode.html" target="_blank">typing in present mode</a></b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, transforming film clips into learning tools with </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-4-get-started-with.html" target="_blank">EdPuzzle</a></b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and grabbing the students’ attention by customizing your </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-3-customize-your-google.html" target="_blank">Google Classroom theme</a></b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today I want to discuss </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><a href="https://www.superteachertools.us/" target="_blank">Super Teacher Tools</a></b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Super Teacher Tools is a free, easy-to-use website that enables you to customize games for your classroom and play (online or off). The site does utilize Flash (sorry Apple peeps, but a paid app will enable you access). If you need to know how to enable Flash on student Chromebooks, check out this </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/02/enabling-adobe-flash-on-chomebook.html" target="_blank">tutorial</a></b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here are some of the things you can do with Super Teacher Tools:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GIE9IzYM8Fs/WSRVnFnEQ9I/AAAAAAAADIk/hNwRldn975UkeYPiQRCYhJMOGyAsYYlzACLcB/s1600/Slide1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" border="0" data-pin-description="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" height="494" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GIE9IzYM8Fs/WSRVnFnEQ9I/AAAAAAAADIk/hNwRldn975UkeYPiQRCYhJMOGyAsYYlzACLcB/s640/Slide1.PNG" title="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jrX-5DIAM2I/WSRVoS1dkHI/AAAAAAAADIo/1WJ5DA6fDigu-siLOubr5RYcDlNNvoZIACLcB/s1600/Slide2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" border="0" data-pin-description="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" height="492" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jrX-5DIAM2I/WSRVoS1dkHI/AAAAAAAADIo/1WJ5DA6fDigu-siLOubr5RYcDlNNvoZIACLcB/s640/Slide2.PNG" title="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" width="640" /></a></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At first glance, the game aspect seems a lot like Learningapps, but it does not track student progress, so this is best for whole class review or for sharing a link in Google Classroom for small group play (a Google Classroom button does pop up for some of the features). </span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here are a few fun ways to use the tools on the site:</span></div><ol style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To improve attendance at the end (especially on review days with seniors), use the random name generator to pick a name for a prize each day. They have to be there to claim it.</span></div></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Use the wheel to mix up review. If you have an arsenal of games like I do, put one on each part of the wheel. Spin it to decide which one the students will play.</span></div></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Select review groups randomly with the Group Maker tool.</span></div></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Use the timer or the countdown tool to time students in quick group reviews with flashcards.</span></div></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Use the dice if students are “caught” doing the right thing. They can roll and whatever number they get, you give them that answer on their study guide (or roll for extra credit points as a reward).</span></div></li></ol><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you want to create a game, or use the spinner/ dice/ random name selector/ seating chart tools, simply go to the website and start creating. You will enter your email address and a password (no need to create an account--it’s automatic) so the site will send you a link to access the game. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is how I created a Who Wants To Be A </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Millionaire</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Game:</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_TFus_RxYtw/WSRV_XsoE1I/AAAAAAAADIs/A2txSAmR-CstUzenBLtkOtJrnKueorThgCLcB/s1600/Slide3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" border="0" data-pin-description="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" height="494" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_TFus_RxYtw/WSRV_XsoE1I/AAAAAAAADIs/A2txSAmR-CstUzenBLtkOtJrnKueorThgCLcB/s640/Slide3.PNG" title="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uzEbdq_YCw8/WSRWAOnJCjI/AAAAAAAADIw/syA_kAsYHDwnvDTuKEGTu_laiU1DKmLzgCLcB/s1600/Slide4.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" border="0" data-pin-description="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" height="494" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uzEbdq_YCw8/WSRWAOnJCjI/AAAAAAAADIw/syA_kAsYHDwnvDTuKEGTu_laiU1DKmLzgCLcB/s640/Slide4.PNG" title="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0Ket9LRLQy0/WSRWA6i-sAI/AAAAAAAADI0/HHi4p9BhlhUZgoulQ86-BDNJv4lHMDZggCLcB/s1600/Slide5.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" border="0" data-pin-description="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" height="494" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0Ket9LRLQy0/WSRWA6i-sAI/AAAAAAAADI0/HHi4p9BhlhUZgoulQ86-BDNJv4lHMDZggCLcB/s640/Slide5.PNG" title="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ag8s3f0713o/WSRWBjWxkOI/AAAAAAAADI4/BPXP2XxlBUYxwdWRQUjmFVa7XIpbXMXmQCLcB/s1600/Slide6.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" border="0" data-pin-description="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" height="494" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ag8s3f0713o/WSRWBjWxkOI/AAAAAAAADI4/BPXP2XxlBUYxwdWRQUjmFVa7XIpbXMXmQCLcB/s640/Slide6.PNG" title="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1FUTg8C24Bg/WSRWDBM1S8I/AAAAAAAADI8/OpJGsjTkt3k4yL77gYSHrHw7jVOE8Hb_wCLcB/s1600/Slide7.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" border="0" data-pin-description="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" height="494" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1FUTg8C24Bg/WSRWDBM1S8I/AAAAAAAADI8/OpJGsjTkt3k4yL77gYSHrHw7jVOE8Hb_wCLcB/s640/Slide7.PNG" title="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" width="640" /></a></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: &quot;arial&quot;;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can also download the game once you’ve created it, so you can play offline. </span><br /><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RbcRAx1czt0/WSTsVDwYaGI/AAAAAAAADJU/c4OGIrMGJzkN59rmZuNI0E2y-yEzXx_VgCLcB/s1600/Super%2BTeacher%2BTools%2BP.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" border="0" data-pin-description="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RbcRAx1czt0/WSTsVDwYaGI/AAAAAAAADJU/c4OGIrMGJzkN59rmZuNI0E2y-yEzXx_VgCLcB/s320/Super%2BTeacher%2BTools%2BP.png" title="I'm back with Spring Tech Tip #2, which is all about Super Teacher Tools! This resource allows teachers to customize games for classroom use and has some integration with Google Classroom. Learn some fun ways to use Super Teacher Tools and about how to use it in this blog post!" width="208" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here at the end, my students and I are playing the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire game in kind of a different way. The school has already collected their Chromebooks for the summer, so individual and small group review with the link are off the table.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">But the Millionaire game works best with one or two players going the whole 15 questions alone. So everyday for review, I randomly select two students to come to the board. If they make it through all 15 questions, the whole class (present on that day) gets a couple of extra points added to their exam. If they don't make it through all the rounds, then two more have to come up and try until they do.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">This keeps the students engaged and collaborating--they are actively cheering for the students who are "up" (and paying attention to the review).</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">A word of caution about this method--you have to be very careful when explaining it to your class. They need to understand that everybody is on the same side and if one pair gets one wrong, the rest of the students cannot be mean about it or the game has to stop, and that means no extra credit for anyone.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">This encourages individuals to study their study guides, as well, because they don't know when they will be selected (and the rest of the class is counting on them).</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I love gems like this site for quick go-tos and mixing things up. I always have a backup plan, like these reliable </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/PowerPoint-Games-Bundle-1-3135557" target="_blank">game templates</a></b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, especially since Flash sites can be finicky. But for variety (especially when you can just search for and use an already created game), Super Teacher Tools is a lot of fun.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How do you get creative with tech and keep students engaged at the end? Leave a comment below, and let me know!</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And be sure to check out the other simple spring tech tips in this series:</span></div><div></html><style> .HeaderText { margin-bottom: 10px; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; } .BlogButton { float: left; margin: 4px; } .ButtonGroup { margin-bottom: 20px; } .CatagoryText { font-size: 50px; font-weight: bolder; color: #000000; text-decoration: none; clear: both; padding-top: 35px; } .BodyText { font-size: 20px; font-weight: bolder; color: #000000; text-decoration: none; clear: both; padding-top: 35px; } .Credits { margin-top: 100px; } img.BlogButton { border: none; width: 115.05px; height: 176.25px; } </style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-7-add-variety-with.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton"src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E9D7I096rZc/WOxl7Uge0FI/AAAAAAAAC_Y/Gri0r8fgl4oFD1zgWnUuy5Hfhcamf_lTACLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png"/></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-6-wake-up-presentations.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2-s3DmPDF9A/WPVg87HPGCI/AAAAAAAADAg/-F_0kDJ3NBIAaFBHNlgEdIXUnYvoZRogQCLcB/s320/Wake%2BUp%2BPresentations%2Bwith%2BPoll%2BEverywhere%2BPinterest.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-5-type-in-present-mode.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V8Rt7Kdp7xI/WQY23dmyb4I/AAAAAAAADFk/Nd5QBD7eH_w1VlMOBresiuWGDZUBwSqsgCLcB/s320/How%2Bto%2BType%2Bin%2BPresent%2BMode%2Bin%2BPowerPoint.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-4-get-started-with.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fSsT4uM1JcE/WRJY6XvEYHI/AAAAAAAADGw/jZH8RBypkh82uyPx88zRrqTYhHJujC7ZACLcB/s320/Get%2BStarted%2Bwith%2BEDpuzzles%2B%25281%2529.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-3-customize-your-google.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X8R0dCDLfts/WRt0IcJAXQI/AAAAAAAADHc/O1QY6ulsdtUXoJ-WKgwk6G5EC6aGoEs8gCLcB/s320/Customize%2BYour%2BGoogle%2BClassroom%2BTheme.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-2-give.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RbcRAx1czt0/WSTsVDwYaGI/AAAAAAAADJU/c4OGIrMGJzkN59rmZuNI0E2y-yEzXx_VgCLcB/s320/Super%2BTeacher%2BTools%2BP.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/06/spring-tech-tip-1-set-custom-start-and.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C3t4Vn4GaeQ/WUCwpgy8ALI/AAAAAAAADMw/N_tKnaJhiakWWl6eaF8dWdDxMeG5kXMDQCLcBGAs/s320/Custom%2BStart%2BEnd%2BTimes%2BPinterest.png" /></a><br /></div></html><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><!-- Begin MailChimp Signup Form --><link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-10_7.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><style type="text/css"> #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ </style><br /><div id="mc_embed_signup"><form action="//blogspot.us10.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=186b802153fb21547cca716cb&amp;id=6a65daf72b" class="validate" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" method="post" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" novalidate="" target="_blank"><div id="mc_embed_signup_scroll"><h2>Subscribe to our mailing list</h2><div class="indicates-required"><span class="asterisk">*</span> indicates required</div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-EMAIL">Email Address <span class="asterisk">*</span></label> <input class="required email" id="mce-EMAIL" name="EMAIL" type="email" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group input-group"><strong>Email Format </strong> <br /><ul><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-0" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="html" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-0">html</label></li><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-1" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="text" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-1">text</label></li></ul></div><div class="clear" id="mce-responses"><div class="response" id="mce-error-response" style="display: none;"></div><div class="response" id="mce-success-response" style="display: none;"></div></div><!-- real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups--> <br /><div aria-hidden="true" style="left: -5000px; position: absolute;"><input name="b_186b802153fb21547cca716cb_6a65daf72b" tabindex="-1" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="clear"><input class="button" id="mc-embedded-subscribe" name="subscribe" type="submit" value="Subscribe" /></div></div></form></div><script src="//s3.amazonaws.com/downloads.mailchimp.com/js/mc-validate.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script type="text/javascript">(function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true);</script><!--End mc_embed_signup-->Leah Clearyhttps://plus.google.com/112034139671515193206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490708975258688106.post-78346455409617572962017-05-16T15:06:00.000-07:002017-06-13T21:18:52.264-07:00Spring Tech Tip 3: Customize Your Google Classroom Theme<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_6fSmi6BcO0/WRtz7XoJc1I/AAAAAAAADHY/6MKw-Fop9N4x3XGfc3Msnx0hgXHwOWZ0gCLcB/s1600/Customize%2Byour%2BGoogle%2BClassroom%2BTheme%2B2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="We're counting down to the end of the school year with spring tech tips, and Spring Tech Tip 3 is to customize your Google Classroom theme! Students can get bored with Google Classroom, but changing the header to pictures of your students working in class helps keep their attention! Click through to read this tutorial." border="0" data-pin-description="We're counting down to the end of the school year with spring tech tips, and Spring Tech Tip 3 is to customize your Google Classroom theme! Students can get bored with Google Classroom, but changing the header to pictures of your students working in class helps keep their attention! Click through to read this tutorial." height="208" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_6fSmi6BcO0/WRtz7XoJc1I/AAAAAAAADHY/6MKw-Fop9N4x3XGfc3Msnx0hgXHwOWZ0gCLcB/s400/Customize%2Byour%2BGoogle%2BClassroom%2BTheme%2B2.png" title="We're counting down to the end of the school year with spring tech tips, and Spring Tech Tip 3 is to customize your Google Classroom theme! Students can get bored with Google Classroom, but changing the header to pictures of your students working in class helps keep their attention! Click through to read this tutorial." width="400" /></a></div>Three. More. Weeks. We can do this. But it's difficult to keep the students engaged here at the end. So I'm counting down to summer break with simple spring tech tips that will help you mix things up for the students but still be easy for you to implement.<br /><br />So far I've discussed creating <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-7-add-variety-with.html" target="_blank">LearningApps</a></b>, adding <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-6-wake-up-presentations.html" target="_blank">Poll Everywhere</a></b> to your PowerPoint Presentations, typing in present mode in <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-5-type-in-present-mode.html" target="_blank">PowerPoint</a></b>, and using <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-4-get-started-with.html" target="_blank">Edpuzzle</a></b> to teach with film clips.<br /><br />This week, I want to share a crazy, simple trick that even my seniors get excited over. So here it is...<br /><h3>Spring Tech Tip 3: Customize your Google Classroom Theme</h3><div>As useful as I've found Google Classroom, if it always looks the same, the students get bored with it and don't check the feed as often as they should. So I personalize it for them by changing the pictures in the header on the theme--if you're not already doing this, it makes all the difference.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X8R0dCDLfts/WRt0IcJAXQI/AAAAAAAADHc/O1QY6ulsdtUXoJ-WKgwk6G5EC6aGoEs8gCLcB/s1600/Customize%2BYour%2BGoogle%2BClassroom%2BTheme.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="We're counting down to the end of the school year with spring tech tips, and Spring Tech Tip 3 is to customize your Google Classroom theme! Students can get bored with Google Classroom, but changing the header to pictures of your students working in class helps keep their attention! Click through to read this tutorial." border="0" data-pin-description="We're counting down to the end of the school year with spring tech tips, and Spring Tech Tip 3 is to customize your Google Classroom theme! Students can get bored with Google Classroom, but changing the header to pictures of your students working in class helps keep their attention! Click through to read this tutorial." height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X8R0dCDLfts/WRt0IcJAXQI/AAAAAAAADHc/O1QY6ulsdtUXoJ-WKgwk6G5EC6aGoEs8gCLcB/s320/Customize%2BYour%2BGoogle%2BClassroom%2BTheme.png" title="We're counting down to the end of the school year with spring tech tips, and Spring Tech Tip 3 is to customize your Google Classroom theme! Students can get bored with Google Classroom, but changing the header to pictures of your students working in class helps keep their attention! Click through to read this tutorial." width="208" /></a>I take pictures of students working in class and add them. They like to check and see which pictures made the cut. Everybody wants to see themselves on the screen (even if it's just a Chromebook screen).</div><div><br /></div><div>But if you just snap a picture and upload it to the header, it will be stretched out and distorted. So there are a couple of steps you need to take before loading a picture if you want to avoid this.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you are familiar with making digital collages and adjusting image sizes, these are the sizes you'll need:</div><div><br /></div><div>800 x 200 pixels <b>or</b></div><div>8.3333 x 2.0833 inches</div><div><br /></div><div>If you have no idea what this means, stick around for the tutorial, and be sure to download the free cheat sheets that you can print and have right in front of you the first time you give it a try.</div><div><br /></div><div>You could use several programs to adjust your images, but I'm going to talk about how to do it in PowerPoint (super easy, and most of us have it) and Google Drawings (free, we all have it on Google, and it's what I use if I'm doing it from my Chromebook).</div><h3>Here's How It Works</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b4M8PQlg8II/WRtyUeqewiI/AAAAAAAADHI/alpFs3K6zbc5w9uZDJPDz0wGE9J1mKf6gCLcB/s1600/Slide1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="We're counting down to the end of the school year with spring tech tips, and Spring Tech Tip 3 is to customize your Google Classroom theme! Students can get bored with Google Classroom, but changing the header to pictures of your students working in class helps keep their attention! Click through to read this tutorial." border="0" data-pin-description="We're counting down to the end of the school year with spring tech tips, and Spring Tech Tip 3 is to customize your Google Classroom theme! Students can get bored with Google Classroom, but changing the header to pictures of your students working in class helps keep their attention! Click through to read this tutorial." height="494" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b4M8PQlg8II/WRtyUeqewiI/AAAAAAAADHI/alpFs3K6zbc5w9uZDJPDz0wGE9J1mKf6gCLcB/s640/Slide1.PNG" title="We're counting down to the end of the school year with spring tech tips, and Spring Tech Tip 3 is to customize your Google Classroom theme! Students can get bored with Google Classroom, but changing the header to pictures of your students working in class helps keep their attention! Click through to read this tutorial." width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1ZptWVN5Ld4/WRtyWk_ljoI/AAAAAAAADHM/JR_zf3dmqCYYE5mfa9eZwVqkqOIoZ4IHACLcB/s1600/Slide2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="We're counting down to the end of the school year with spring tech tips, and Spring Tech Tip 3 is to customize your Google Classroom theme! Students can get bored with Google Classroom, but changing the header to pictures of your students working in class helps keep their attention! Click through to read this tutorial." border="0" data-pin-description="We're counting down to the end of the school year with spring tech tips, and Spring Tech Tip 3 is to customize your Google Classroom theme! Students can get bored with Google Classroom, but changing the header to pictures of your students working in class helps keep their attention! Click through to read this tutorial." height="494" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1ZptWVN5Ld4/WRtyWk_ljoI/AAAAAAAADHM/JR_zf3dmqCYYE5mfa9eZwVqkqOIoZ4IHACLcB/s640/Slide2.PNG" title="We're counting down to the end of the school year with spring tech tips, and Spring Tech Tip 3 is to customize your Google Classroom theme! Students can get bored with Google Classroom, but changing the header to pictures of your students working in class helps keep their attention! Click through to read this tutorial." width="640" /></a></div><div>Grab the PowerPoint Cheat Sheet <b><a href="http://bit.ly/2pS5cYr" target="_blank">HERE</a></b>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gIN1IhQD9HE/WRtycpLqL1I/AAAAAAAADHQ/hkvHDKgDSn4iZaY8F2kdGRI6e_SOlLR9wCEw/s1600/Slide3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="We're counting down to the end of the school year with spring tech tips, and Spring Tech Tip 3 is to customize your Google Classroom theme! Students can get bored with Google Classroom, but changing the header to pictures of your students working in class helps keep their attention! Click through to read this tutorial." border="0" data-pin-description="We're counting down to the end of the school year with spring tech tips, and Spring Tech Tip 3 is to customize your Google Classroom theme! Students can get bored with Google Classroom, but changing the header to pictures of your students working in class helps keep their attention! Click through to read this tutorial." height="494" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gIN1IhQD9HE/WRtycpLqL1I/AAAAAAAADHQ/hkvHDKgDSn4iZaY8F2kdGRI6e_SOlLR9wCEw/s640/Slide3.PNG" title="We're counting down to the end of the school year with spring tech tips, and Spring Tech Tip 3 is to customize your Google Classroom theme! Students can get bored with Google Classroom, but changing the header to pictures of your students working in class helps keep their attention! Click through to read this tutorial." width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3TCBcFlg4YA/WRtyefZ3PUI/AAAAAAAADHU/Or6uHbfcwCwM9OHs_QGoJBn6Y2AV959wwCEw/s1600/Slide4.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="We're counting down to the end of the school year with spring tech tips, and Spring Tech Tip 3 is to customize your Google Classroom theme! Students can get bored with Google Classroom, but changing the header to pictures of your students working in class helps keep their attention! Click through to read this tutorial." border="0" data-pin-description="We're counting down to the end of the school year with spring tech tips, and Spring Tech Tip 3 is to customize your Google Classroom theme! Students can get bored with Google Classroom, but changing the header to pictures of your students working in class helps keep their attention! Click through to read this tutorial." height="494" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3TCBcFlg4YA/WRtyefZ3PUI/AAAAAAAADHU/Or6uHbfcwCwM9OHs_QGoJBn6Y2AV959wwCEw/s640/Slide4.PNG" title="We're counting down to the end of the school year with spring tech tips, and Spring Tech Tip 3 is to customize your Google Classroom theme! Students can get bored with Google Classroom, but changing the header to pictures of your students working in class helps keep their attention! Click through to read this tutorial." width="640" /></a></div>Grab the Google Drawings Cheat Sheet <b><a href="http://bit.ly/2qpKjXT" target="_blank">HERE</a></b>.<br /><br />It's the small things that count here at the end. If you try this, let me know how it goes. If you already do it, how does it work out for you? Leave a comment below! And be sure to check out the other simple spring tech tips in this series:<br /><br /></html><style> .HeaderText { margin-bottom: 10px; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; } .BlogButton { float: left; margin: 4px; } .ButtonGroup { margin-bottom: 20px; } .CatagoryText { font-size: 50px; font-weight: bolder; color: #000000; text-decoration: none; clear: both; padding-top: 35px; } .BodyText { font-size: 20px; font-weight: bolder; color: #000000; text-decoration: none; clear: both; padding-top: 35px; } .Credits { margin-top: 100px; } img.BlogButton { border: none; width: 115.05px; height: 176.25px; } </style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-7-add-variety-with.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton"src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E9D7I096rZc/WOxl7Uge0FI/AAAAAAAAC_Y/Gri0r8fgl4oFD1zgWnUuy5Hfhcamf_lTACLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png"/></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-6-wake-up-presentations.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2-s3DmPDF9A/WPVg87HPGCI/AAAAAAAADAg/-F_0kDJ3NBIAaFBHNlgEdIXUnYvoZRogQCLcB/s320/Wake%2BUp%2BPresentations%2Bwith%2BPoll%2BEverywhere%2BPinterest.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-5-type-in-present-mode.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V8Rt7Kdp7xI/WQY23dmyb4I/AAAAAAAADFk/Nd5QBD7eH_w1VlMOBresiuWGDZUBwSqsgCLcB/s320/How%2Bto%2BType%2Bin%2BPresent%2BMode%2Bin%2BPowerPoint.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-4-get-started-with.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fSsT4uM1JcE/WRJY6XvEYHI/AAAAAAAADGw/jZH8RBypkh82uyPx88zRrqTYhHJujC7ZACLcB/s320/Get%2BStarted%2Bwith%2BEDpuzzles%2B%25281%2529.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-3-customize-your-google.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X8R0dCDLfts/WRt0IcJAXQI/AAAAAAAADHc/O1QY6ulsdtUXoJ-WKgwk6G5EC6aGoEs8gCLcB/s320/Customize%2BYour%2BGoogle%2BClassroom%2BTheme.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-2-give.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RbcRAx1czt0/WSTsVDwYaGI/AAAAAAAADJU/c4OGIrMGJzkN59rmZuNI0E2y-yEzXx_VgCLcB/s320/Super%2BTeacher%2BTools%2BP.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/06/spring-tech-tip-1-set-custom-start-and.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C3t4Vn4GaeQ/WUCwpgy8ALI/AAAAAAAADMw/N_tKnaJhiakWWl6eaF8dWdDxMeG5kXMDQCLcBGAs/s320/Custom%2BStart%2BEnd%2BTimes%2BPinterest.png" /></a><br /></div></html><div id="mc_embed_signup"><form action="//blogspot.us10.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=186b802153fb21547cca716cb&amp;id=6a65daf72b" class="validate" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" method="post" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" novalidate="" target="_blank"><div id="mc_embed_signup_scroll"><h2>Subscribe to our mailing list</h2><div class="indicates-required"><span class="asterisk">*</span> indicates required</div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-EMAIL">Email Address <span class="asterisk">*</span></label> <input class="required email" id="mce-EMAIL" name="EMAIL" type="email" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group input-group"><strong>Email Format </strong> <br /><ul><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-0" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="html" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-0">html</label></li><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-1" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="text" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-1">text</label></li></ul></div><div class="clear" id="mce-responses"><div class="response" id="mce-error-response" style="display: none;"></div><div class="response" id="mce-success-response" style="display: none;"></div></div><!-- real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups--> <br /><div aria-hidden="true" style="left: -5000px; position: absolute;"><input name="b_186b802153fb21547cca716cb_6a65daf72b" tabindex="-1" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="clear"><input class="button" id="mc-embedded-subscribe" name="subscribe" type="submit" value="Subscribe" /></div></div></form></div><script src="//s3.amazonaws.com/downloads.mailchimp.com/js/mc-validate.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script type="text/javascript">(function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true);</script><!--End mc_embed_signup-->Leah Clearyhttps://plus.google.com/112034139671515193206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490708975258688106.post-63943817282001159022017-05-09T17:10:00.004-07:002017-06-13T21:23:14.317-07:00Spring Tech Tip 4: Get Started with EDpuzzle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GLic8leIW3w/WRJYyJ4x_zI/AAAAAAAADGs/lgv7myUAtJkoNM-h-rV8h2Ea0Uv5XTbowCLcB/s1600/Get%2BStarted%2Bwith%2BEDpuzzles%2B%25282%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="My fourth Spring Tech Tip is all about getting started with EDpuzzle, a free app that integrates with Google Classroom! With EDpuzzle, you can shorten clips, insert questions into the clips, and track whether students actually watch the clips. Click through to learn more and get a tutorial for setting it up!" border="0" data-pin-description="My fourth Spring Tech Tip is all about getting started with EDpuzzle, a free app that integrates with Google Classroom! With EDpuzzle, you can shorten clips, insert questions into the clips, and track whether students actually watch the clips. Click through to learn more and get a tutorial for setting it up!" height="208" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GLic8leIW3w/WRJYyJ4x_zI/AAAAAAAADGs/lgv7myUAtJkoNM-h-rV8h2Ea0Uv5XTbowCLcB/s400/Get%2BStarted%2Bwith%2BEDpuzzles%2B%25282%2529.png" title="My fourth Spring Tech Tip is all about getting started with EDpuzzle, a free app that integrates with Google Classroom! With EDpuzzle, you can shorten clips, insert questions into the clips, and track whether students actually watch the clips. Click through to learn more and get a tutorial for setting it up!" width="400" /></a></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here at the end, when we’re racing to fit everything in and the students are actively resisting, mixing it up becomes even more important. One of my favorite ways to do that is with the video webquest.</span></span></div><b id="docs-internal-guid-e3456612-ef7c-4f43-9c03-b040256009db" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The video webquest enables students to learn a lot in a short amount of time, and it does not require direct instruction from the teacher--something that quickly gets tiresome for the students--especially in the spring.</span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fSsT4uM1JcE/WRJY6XvEYHI/AAAAAAAADGw/jZH8RBypkh82uyPx88zRrqTYhHJujC7ZACLcB/s1600/Get%2BStarted%2Bwith%2BEDpuzzles%2B%25281%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="My fourth Spring Tech Tip is all about getting started with EDpuzzle, a free app that integrates with Google Classroom! With EDpuzzle, you can shorten clips, insert questions into the clips, and track whether students actually watch the clips. Click through to learn more and get a tutorial for setting it up!" border="0" data-pin-description="My fourth Spring Tech Tip is all about getting started with EDpuzzle, a free app that integrates with Google Classroom! With EDpuzzle, you can shorten clips, insert questions into the clips, and track whether students actually watch the clips. Click through to learn more and get a tutorial for setting it up!" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fSsT4uM1JcE/WRJY6XvEYHI/AAAAAAAADGw/jZH8RBypkh82uyPx88zRrqTYhHJujC7ZACLcB/s320/Get%2BStarted%2Bwith%2BEDpuzzles%2B%25281%2529.png" title="My fourth Spring Tech Tip is all about getting started with EDpuzzle, a free app that integrates with Google Classroom! With EDpuzzle, you can shorten clips, insert questions into the clips, and track whether students actually watch the clips. Click through to learn more and get a tutorial for setting it up!" width="208" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Students watch a series of short film clips and respond to them. It’s a great strategy, but I’ve often thought that it would be great if I could shorten some of the clips I want to use, insert the questions directly into the point of the film where the answers come, and track whether or not students actually view the clip. </span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You can easily do all of these things with <b><a href="https://edpuzzle.com/" target="_blank">EDpuzzle</a></b>, a FREE app that integrates with Google Classroom.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are so many seriously amazing apps out there. I often feel that I am behind on trying them out--it can certainly be overwhelming. I try many, but I have three criteria for actually implementing a new one in my classroom: </span></span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><br /><ol style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It has to be easy to use.</span></span></div></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It has to truly save me time.</span></span></div></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It has to engage my students.</span></span></div></li></ol><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm just being honest when I put the first two reasons first--this teaching gig is quite involved. The EDpuzzle app made my cut, and I am really liking it so far. And setting it up is unbelievably simple.</span></span></div><h3 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Here's How to Get Started with EDpuzzle:</h3><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8ZqkckP-A1U/WRJPXE1ps1I/AAAAAAAADGM/s3RgQMGUdvY2ooiRQcJVXKrYFGu6RwyiACLcB/s1600/Using%2BEDpuzzle%2B1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="My fourth Spring Tech Tip is all about getting started with EDpuzzle, a free app that integrates with Google Classroom! With EDpuzzle, you can shorten clips, insert questions into the clips, and track whether students actually watch the clips. Click through to learn more and get a tutorial for setting it up!" border="0" data-pin-description="My fourth Spring Tech Tip is all about getting started with EDpuzzle, a free app that integrates with Google Classroom! With EDpuzzle, you can shorten clips, insert questions into the clips, and track whether students actually watch the clips. Click through to learn more and get a tutorial for setting it up!" height="601" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8ZqkckP-A1U/WRJPXE1ps1I/AAAAAAAADGM/s3RgQMGUdvY2ooiRQcJVXKrYFGu6RwyiACLcB/s640/Using%2BEDpuzzle%2B1.png" title="My fourth Spring Tech Tip is all about getting started with EDpuzzle, a free app that integrates with Google Classroom! With EDpuzzle, you can shorten clips, insert questions into the clips, and track whether students actually watch the clips. Click through to learn more and get a tutorial for setting it up!" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-reuU_6AR398/WRJPY7o5NrI/AAAAAAAADGQ/SUQkBWCuaYYjVhRpjWBbuTQ9gKKCNogxgCLcB/s1600/Using%2BEDpuzzle%2B2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="My fourth Spring Tech Tip is all about getting started with EDpuzzle, a free app that integrates with Google Classroom! With EDpuzzle, you can shorten clips, insert questions into the clips, and track whether students actually watch the clips. Click through to learn more and get a tutorial for setting it up!" border="0" data-pin-description="My fourth Spring Tech Tip is all about getting started with EDpuzzle, a free app that integrates with Google Classroom! With EDpuzzle, you can shorten clips, insert questions into the clips, and track whether students actually watch the clips. Click through to learn more and get a tutorial for setting it up!" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-reuU_6AR398/WRJPY7o5NrI/AAAAAAAADGQ/SUQkBWCuaYYjVhRpjWBbuTQ9gKKCNogxgCLcB/s640/Using%2BEDpuzzle%2B2.png" title="My fourth Spring Tech Tip is all about getting started with EDpuzzle, a free app that integrates with Google Classroom! With EDpuzzle, you can shorten clips, insert questions into the clips, and track whether students actually watch the clips. Click through to learn more and get a tutorial for setting it up!" width="466" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m9ei7fbWUdo/WRJPbJdomwI/AAAAAAAADGU/LLdIIvBuH-4fpumeX08jKigRDIz0DqJrwCLcB/s1600/Using%2BEDpuzzle%2B3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="My fourth Spring Tech Tip is all about getting started with EDpuzzle, a free app that integrates with Google Classroom! With EDpuzzle, you can shorten clips, insert questions into the clips, and track whether students actually watch the clips. Click through to learn more and get a tutorial for setting it up!" border="0" data-pin-description="My fourth Spring Tech Tip is all about getting started with EDpuzzle, a free app that integrates with Google Classroom! With EDpuzzle, you can shorten clips, insert questions into the clips, and track whether students actually watch the clips. Click through to learn more and get a tutorial for setting it up!" height="342" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m9ei7fbWUdo/WRJPbJdomwI/AAAAAAAADGU/LLdIIvBuH-4fpumeX08jKigRDIz0DqJrwCLcB/s640/Using%2BEDpuzzle%2B3.png" title="My fourth Spring Tech Tip is all about getting started with EDpuzzle, a free app that integrates with Google Classroom! With EDpuzzle, you can shorten clips, insert questions into the clips, and track whether students actually watch the clips. Click through to learn more and get a tutorial for setting it up!" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oWEAftKnRmI/WRJPdv81taI/AAAAAAAADGY/At4N869aeMo9IxBC3iOtDn6t8jztyxQ_wCLcB/s1600/Using%2BEDpuzzle%2B4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="My fourth Spring Tech Tip is all about getting started with EDpuzzle, a free app that integrates with Google Classroom! With EDpuzzle, you can shorten clips, insert questions into the clips, and track whether students actually watch the clips. Click through to learn more and get a tutorial for setting it up!" border="0" data-pin-description="My fourth Spring Tech Tip is all about getting started with EDpuzzle, a free app that integrates with Google Classroom! With EDpuzzle, you can shorten clips, insert questions into the clips, and track whether students actually watch the clips. Click through to learn more and get a tutorial for setting it up!" height="314" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oWEAftKnRmI/WRJPdv81taI/AAAAAAAADGY/At4N869aeMo9IxBC3iOtDn6t8jztyxQ_wCLcB/s640/Using%2BEDpuzzle%2B4.png" title="My fourth Spring Tech Tip is all about getting started with EDpuzzle, a free app that integrates with Google Classroom! With EDpuzzle, you can shorten clips, insert questions into the clips, and track whether students actually watch the clips. Click through to learn more and get a tutorial for setting it up!" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6y1Xxmu14Mk/WRJPg6BlzkI/AAAAAAAADGc/YnYxzGPQUaUjVDvTlM0M-eIb1HBw5MqowCLcB/s1600/Using%2BEDpuzzle%2B5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="My fourth Spring Tech Tip is all about getting started with EDpuzzle, a free app that integrates with Google Classroom! With EDpuzzle, you can shorten clips, insert questions into the clips, and track whether students actually watch the clips. Click through to learn more and get a tutorial for setting it up!" border="0" data-pin-description="My fourth Spring Tech Tip is all about getting started with EDpuzzle, a free app that integrates with Google Classroom! With EDpuzzle, you can shorten clips, insert questions into the clips, and track whether students actually watch the clips. Click through to learn more and get a tutorial for setting it up!" height="338" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6y1Xxmu14Mk/WRJPg6BlzkI/AAAAAAAADGc/YnYxzGPQUaUjVDvTlM0M-eIb1HBw5MqowCLcB/s640/Using%2BEDpuzzle%2B5.png" title="My fourth Spring Tech Tip is all about getting started with EDpuzzle, a free app that integrates with Google Classroom! With EDpuzzle, you can shorten clips, insert questions into the clips, and track whether students actually watch the clips. Click through to learn more and get a tutorial for setting it up!" width="640" /></a></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I especially like that it keeps track of who watched the film and who didn’t and who submitted on time and who didn’t. So how am I using this?</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><ol style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As a bellringer (warm-up)</span></span></div></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">To review a concept before a quiz.</span></span></div></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As a quick assignment to break up a lecture.</span></span></div></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As an exit ticket to both review what we learned and to check for understanding.</span></span></div></li></ol><div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><a href="https://edpuzzle.com/" target="_blank">EDpuzzle </a></b>provides a user-friendly platform for short and engaging formative assessment. I will not give up my video webquests for the more involved lessons (like <b><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/World-War-I-Trenches-Webquest-1807207?utm_source=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.leahcleary.com%2F&amp;utm_campaign=Spring%204%20Trenches" target="_blank">Trench Warfare</a></b> or the <b><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Holocaust-Video-Webquest-for-Google-Classroom-and-One-Drive-2268060?utm_source=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.leahcleary.com%2F&amp;utm_campaign=Spring%204%20Holocaust" target="_blank">Holocaust</a></b>), but EDpuzzle is invaluable for breaking up a long lesson, introducing short bursts of content, and assessing what students have learned so far.</span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">How do you use EDpuzzle? Is there an app you can’t live without? Leave a comment below to let me know. And be sure to check out my other quick and easy Spring Tech Tips:</span></span></div></html><style> .HeaderText { margin-bottom: 10px; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; } .BlogButton { float: left; margin: 4px; } .ButtonGroup { margin-bottom: 20px; } .CatagoryText { font-size: 50px; font-weight: bolder; color: #000000; text-decoration: none; clear: both; padding-top: 35px; } .BodyText { font-size: 20px; font-weight: bolder; color: #000000; text-decoration: none; clear: both; padding-top: 35px; } .Credits { margin-top: 100px; } img.BlogButton { border: none; width: 115.05px; height: 176.25px; } </style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-7-add-variety-with.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton"src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E9D7I096rZc/WOxl7Uge0FI/AAAAAAAAC_Y/Gri0r8fgl4oFD1zgWnUuy5Hfhcamf_lTACLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png"/></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-6-wake-up-presentations.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2-s3DmPDF9A/WPVg87HPGCI/AAAAAAAADAg/-F_0kDJ3NBIAaFBHNlgEdIXUnYvoZRogQCLcB/s320/Wake%2BUp%2BPresentations%2Bwith%2BPoll%2BEverywhere%2BPinterest.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-5-type-in-present-mode.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V8Rt7Kdp7xI/WQY23dmyb4I/AAAAAAAADFk/Nd5QBD7eH_w1VlMOBresiuWGDZUBwSqsgCLcB/s320/How%2Bto%2BType%2Bin%2BPresent%2BMode%2Bin%2BPowerPoint.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-4-get-started-with.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fSsT4uM1JcE/WRJY6XvEYHI/AAAAAAAADGw/jZH8RBypkh82uyPx88zRrqTYhHJujC7ZACLcB/s320/Get%2BStarted%2Bwith%2BEDpuzzles%2B%25281%2529.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-3-customize-your-google.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X8R0dCDLfts/WRt0IcJAXQI/AAAAAAAADHc/O1QY6ulsdtUXoJ-WKgwk6G5EC6aGoEs8gCLcB/s320/Customize%2BYour%2BGoogle%2BClassroom%2BTheme.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-2-give.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RbcRAx1czt0/WSTsVDwYaGI/AAAAAAAADJU/c4OGIrMGJzkN59rmZuNI0E2y-yEzXx_VgCLcB/s320/Super%2BTeacher%2BTools%2BP.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/06/spring-tech-tip-1-set-custom-start-and.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C3t4Vn4GaeQ/WUCwpgy8ALI/AAAAAAAADMw/N_tKnaJhiakWWl6eaF8dWdDxMeG5kXMDQCLcBGAs/s320/Custom%2BStart%2BEnd%2BTimes%2BPinterest.png" /></a><br /></div></html><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></span><!-- Begin MailChimp Signup Form --><link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-10_7.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><style type="text/css"> #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ </style><br /><div id="mc_embed_signup"><form action="//blogspot.us10.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=186b802153fb21547cca716cb&amp;id=6a65daf72b" class="validate" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" method="post" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" novalidate="" target="_blank"><div id="mc_embed_signup_scroll"><h2>Subscribe to our mailing list</h2><div class="indicates-required"><span class="asterisk">*</span> indicates required</div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-EMAIL">Email Address <span class="asterisk">*</span></label> <input class="required email" id="mce-EMAIL" name="EMAIL" type="email" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group input-group"><strong>Email Format </strong> <br /><ul><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-0" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="html" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-0">html</label></li><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-1" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="text" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-1">text</label></li></ul></div><div class="clear" id="mce-responses"><div class="response" id="mce-error-response" style="display: none;"></div><div class="response" id="mce-success-response" style="display: none;"></div></div><!-- real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups--> <br /><div aria-hidden="true" style="left: -5000px; position: absolute;"><input name="b_186b802153fb21547cca716cb_6a65daf72b" tabindex="-1" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="clear"><input class="button" id="mc-embedded-subscribe" name="subscribe" type="submit" value="Subscribe" /></div></div></form></div><script src="//s3.amazonaws.com/downloads.mailchimp.com/js/mc-validate.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script type="text/javascript">(function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true);</script><!--End mc_embed_signup-->Leah Clearyhttps://plus.google.com/112034139671515193206noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490708975258688106.post-36663204540731849872017-04-30T12:33:00.000-07:002017-06-13T21:29:25.240-07:00Spring Tech Tip 5: Type in Present Mode in PowerPoint<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4yr6h1LI_Ug/WQY67wOIl_I/AAAAAAAADF8/-pkQNZQrX7UxEVHJp0hD6_IPligeWzrgACLcB/s1600/How%2Bto%2BType%2Bin%2BPresent%2BMode%2BFB.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Did you know that you can type in present mode in PowerPoint? No? Well, you're in luck, because this post gives you a tutorial of how to do that! Click through to read the steps, look at graphics, AND watch a video showing you how to type in present mode in PowerPoint!" border="0" data-pin-description="Did you know that you can type in present mode in PowerPoint? No? Well, you're in luck, because this post gives you a tutorial of how to do that! Click through to read the steps, look at graphics, AND watch a video showing you how to type in present mode in PowerPoint!" height="334" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4yr6h1LI_Ug/WQY67wOIl_I/AAAAAAAADF8/-pkQNZQrX7UxEVHJp0hD6_IPligeWzrgACLcB/s640/How%2Bto%2BType%2Bin%2BPresent%2BMode%2BFB.png" title="Did you know that you can type in present mode in PowerPoint? No? Well, you're in luck, because this post gives you a tutorial of how to do that! Click through to read the steps, look at graphics, AND watch a video showing you how to type in present mode in PowerPoint!" width="640" /></a></div>I'm counting down to summer break with SIMPLE spring tech tips. Here at the end, we want to mix things up and engage the students, but amid review season, we don't want to throw anything too complicated into that mix.<br /><br /><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V8Rt7Kdp7xI/WQY23dmyb4I/AAAAAAAADFk/Nd5QBD7eH_w1VlMOBresiuWGDZUBwSqsgCLcB/s1600/How%2Bto%2BType%2Bin%2BPresent%2BMode%2Bin%2BPowerPoint.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Did you know that you can type in present mode in PowerPoint? No? Well, you're in luck, because this post gives you a tutorial of how to do that! Click through to read the steps, look at graphics, AND watch a video showing you how to type in present mode in PowerPoint!" border="0" data-pin-description="Did you know that you can type in present mode in PowerPoint? No? Well, you're in luck, because this post gives you a tutorial of how to do that! Click through to read the steps, look at graphics, AND watch a video showing you how to type in present mode in PowerPoint!" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V8Rt7Kdp7xI/WQY23dmyb4I/AAAAAAAADFk/Nd5QBD7eH_w1VlMOBresiuWGDZUBwSqsgCLcB/s320/How%2Bto%2BType%2Bin%2BPresent%2BMode%2Bin%2BPowerPoint.png" title="Did you know that you can type in present mode in PowerPoint? No? Well, you're in luck, because this post gives you a tutorial of how to do that! Click through to read the steps, look at graphics, AND watch a video showing you how to type in present mode in PowerPoint!" width="208" /></a>I've written about a simple website called <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-7-add-variety-with.html" target="_blank">Learning Apps</a></b> to engage your students in review and how to insert <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-6-wake-up-presentations.html" target="_blank">Poll Everywhere</a></b> into your presentations to make the dreaded lecture more interactive. This week I'm talking about a very simple trick you can use to type on PowerPoint Slides WHILE you are presenting.<br /><br />I use this trick for a few different things:<br />1. Keeping score as part of a review game<br />2. Filling out graphic organizers during a lecture<br />3. Categorizing information for test review<br /><br />I'm sure there are many more ways you can find to use this. But for now, here is Spring Tech Tip 5--<br /><h3>Type in Present Mode in PowerPoint</h3><div>It's just a couple of simple steps. I've listed them here, or you can download the <b><a href="http://bit.ly/2pLkoKw" target="_blank">cheat sheet</a></b> and watch the tutorial below.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6kpPsVgSkzE/WQXyZRGZHfI/AAAAAAAADBs/8NpL7PqYZEc9jXmAafFz71qoFsOjzU8kACLcB/s1600/Slide1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Did you know that you can type in present mode in PowerPoint? No? Well, you're in luck, because this post gives you a tutorial of how to do that! Click through to read the steps, look at graphics, AND watch a video showing you how to type in present mode in PowerPoint!" border="0" data-pin-description="Did you know that you can type in present mode in PowerPoint? No? Well, you're in luck, because this post gives you a tutorial of how to do that! Click through to read the steps, look at graphics, AND watch a video showing you how to type in present mode in PowerPoint!" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6kpPsVgSkzE/WQXyZRGZHfI/AAAAAAAADBs/8NpL7PqYZEc9jXmAafFz71qoFsOjzU8kACLcB/s640/Slide1.PNG" title="Did you know that you can type in present mode in PowerPoint? No? Well, you're in luck, because this post gives you a tutorial of how to do that! Click through to read the steps, look at graphics, AND watch a video showing you how to type in present mode in PowerPoint!" width="640" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UG9c-n1L71k/WQXyahWIgEI/AAAAAAAADBw/fuO_okkevZkwYr8qm0ipIcI6SPJgeWTngCLcB/s1600/Slide2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Did you know that you can type in present mode in PowerPoint? No? Well, you're in luck, because this post gives you a tutorial of how to do that! Click through to read the steps, look at graphics, AND watch a video showing you how to type in present mode in PowerPoint!" border="0" data-pin-description="Did you know that you can type in present mode in PowerPoint? No? Well, you're in luck, because this post gives you a tutorial of how to do that! Click through to read the steps, look at graphics, AND watch a video showing you how to type in present mode in PowerPoint!" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UG9c-n1L71k/WQXyahWIgEI/AAAAAAAADBw/fuO_okkevZkwYr8qm0ipIcI6SPJgeWTngCLcB/s640/Slide2.PNG" title="Did you know that you can type in present mode in PowerPoint? No? Well, you're in luck, because this post gives you a tutorial of how to do that! Click through to read the steps, look at graphics, AND watch a video showing you how to type in present mode in PowerPoint!" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://bit.ly/2pLkoKw" target="_blank">Download the Cheat Sheet</a></b></td></tr></tbody></table><div>Now, put it in slide show mode, and type away! It's as easy as that! And be sure to check out the video below.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lNlLw79Rv1g/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lNlLw79Rv1g?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div><div>You can get the game I used as a demo <b><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Match-It-Up-Review-Game-for-Any-Subject-3037978" target="_blank">HERE</a></b>, or as part of a money-saving bundle <b><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/PowerPoint-Games-Bundle-1-3135557" target="_blank">HERE</a></b>.</div><div><br /></div> What are you doing to keep your students engaged right up to the end? Leave a comment below, and let me know! And be sure to check out all of my other simple spring tech tips:<br /></html><style> .HeaderText { margin-bottom: 10px; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; } .BlogButton { float: left; margin: 4px; } .ButtonGroup { margin-bottom: 20px; } .CatagoryText { font-size: 50px; font-weight: bolder; color: #000000; text-decoration: none; clear: both; padding-top: 35px; } .BodyText { font-size: 20px; font-weight: bolder; color: #000000; text-decoration: none; clear: both; padding-top: 35px; } .Credits { margin-top: 100px; } img.BlogButton { border: none; width: 115.05px; height: 176.25px; } </style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-7-add-variety-with.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton"src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E9D7I096rZc/WOxl7Uge0FI/AAAAAAAAC_Y/Gri0r8fgl4oFD1zgWnUuy5Hfhcamf_lTACLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png"/></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-6-wake-up-presentations.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2-s3DmPDF9A/WPVg87HPGCI/AAAAAAAADAg/-F_0kDJ3NBIAaFBHNlgEdIXUnYvoZRogQCLcB/s320/Wake%2BUp%2BPresentations%2Bwith%2BPoll%2BEverywhere%2BPinterest.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-5-type-in-present-mode.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V8Rt7Kdp7xI/WQY23dmyb4I/AAAAAAAADFk/Nd5QBD7eH_w1VlMOBresiuWGDZUBwSqsgCLcB/s320/How%2Bto%2BType%2Bin%2BPresent%2BMode%2Bin%2BPowerPoint.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-4-get-started-with.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fSsT4uM1JcE/WRJY6XvEYHI/AAAAAAAADGw/jZH8RBypkh82uyPx88zRrqTYhHJujC7ZACLcB/s320/Get%2BStarted%2Bwith%2BEDpuzzles%2B%25281%2529.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-3-customize-your-google.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X8R0dCDLfts/WRt0IcJAXQI/AAAAAAAADHc/O1QY6ulsdtUXoJ-WKgwk6G5EC6aGoEs8gCLcB/s320/Customize%2BYour%2BGoogle%2BClassroom%2BTheme.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-2-give.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RbcRAx1czt0/WSTsVDwYaGI/AAAAAAAADJU/c4OGIrMGJzkN59rmZuNI0E2y-yEzXx_VgCLcB/s320/Super%2BTeacher%2BTools%2BP.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/06/spring-tech-tip-1-set-custom-start-and.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C3t4Vn4GaeQ/WUCwpgy8ALI/AAAAAAAADMw/N_tKnaJhiakWWl6eaF8dWdDxMeG5kXMDQCLcBGAs/s320/Custom%2BStart%2BEnd%2BTimes%2BPinterest.png" /></a><br /></div></html><!-- Begin MailChimp Signup Form --><link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-10_7.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><style type="text/css"> #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ </style><br /><div id="mc_embed_signup"><form action="//blogspot.us10.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=186b802153fb21547cca716cb&amp;id=6a65daf72b" class="validate" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" method="post" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" novalidate="" target="_blank"><div id="mc_embed_signup_scroll"><h2>Subscribe to our mailing list</h2><div class="indicates-required"><span class="asterisk">*</span> indicates required</div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-EMAIL">Email Address <span class="asterisk">*</span></label> <input class="required email" id="mce-EMAIL" name="EMAIL" type="email" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group input-group"><strong>Email Format </strong> <br /><ul><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-0" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="html" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-0">html</label></li><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-1" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="text" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-1">text</label></li></ul></div><div class="clear" id="mce-responses"><div class="response" id="mce-error-response" style="display: none;"></div><div class="response" id="mce-success-response" style="display: none;"></div></div><!-- real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups--> <br /><div aria-hidden="true" style="left: -5000px; position: absolute;"><input name="b_186b802153fb21547cca716cb_6a65daf72b" tabindex="-1" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="clear"><input class="button" id="mc-embedded-subscribe" name="subscribe" type="submit" value="Subscribe" /></div></div></form></div><script src="//s3.amazonaws.com/downloads.mailchimp.com/js/mc-validate.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script type="text/javascript">(function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true);</script><!--End mc_embed_signup-->Leah Clearyhttps://plus.google.com/112034139671515193206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490708975258688106.post-12311931035326399822017-04-17T17:58:00.001-07:002017-06-13T21:31:30.559-07:00Spring Tech Tip 6: Wake Up Presentations with Poll Everywhere<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-atDAYzNS-E4/WPVbGDKw4CI/AAAAAAAADAQ/KtjzFuwfvhQxzdErsR0WHSQR5wJA4rmCwCLcB/s1600/wake%2Bup%2Bpresentations%2Bwith%2Bpoll%2Beverywhere%2Bfacebook.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Even at the end of the school year, sometimes a lecture can't be avoided in the secondary classroom. However, you can make that lecture more interesting and engaging by using Poll Everywhere. I give a quick tutorial about how to use Poll Everywhere in this blog post." border="0" data-pin-description="Even at the end of the school year, sometimes a lecture can't be avoided in the secondary classroom. However, you can make that lecture more interesting and engaging by using Poll Everywhere. I give a quick tutorial about how to use Poll Everywhere in this blog post." height="331" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-atDAYzNS-E4/WPVbGDKw4CI/AAAAAAAADAQ/KtjzFuwfvhQxzdErsR0WHSQR5wJA4rmCwCLcB/s640/wake%2Bup%2Bpresentations%2Bwith%2Bpoll%2Beverywhere%2Bfacebook.png" title="Even at the end of the school year, sometimes a lecture can't be avoided in the secondary classroom. However, you can make that lecture more interesting and engaging by using Poll Everywhere. I give a quick tutorial about how to use Poll Everywhere in this blog post." width="640" /></a></div>The irony of spring is that while it's the time of year that arguably matters most (photo finish with the curriculum, not to mention testing season), it's also the time of year that is the most difficult to engage our students.The seniors have their caps and gowns and the underclassmen have their summer daydreams.<br /><br />But we still have to teach them. And more often than not, we have a lot to teach them. Anyone who has spent any amount of time in the classroom knows that's no easy task once the flowers are blooming.<br /><br />So I'm counting down to summer break with Spring Tech Tips that are guaranteed(ish) to engage your most reluctant spring-time learners (uh-hem...everyone). Last week I wrote about learningapps.com, a super awesome, free platform that allows you to create fun activities for your classroom. If you missed it, don't worry, you can check it out <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-7-add-variety-with.html" target="_blank">HERE</a></b>.<br /><br />This week, I'm going to talk about something that I try to avoid. It's a thing that I don't like and that students HATE. I've written about avoiding it <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2015/09/5-easy-alternatives-to-lecture.html" target="_blank">HERE</a></b>. It's none other than the the dreaded lecture....<br /><br />But sometimes it just can't be avoided. And we all know that finishing a content-heavy course can be like stuffing your entire wardrobe into a carry-on. You want to do engaging activities for everything, but it just won't all fit in. When this happens, you have to crumple topics up into the tiniest possible bits and just hand them to your students. The trouble is, they don't want to take them.<br /><br />So that leads us to Spring Tech Tip # 6<br /><h3><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2-s3DmPDF9A/WPVg87HPGCI/AAAAAAAADAg/-F_0kDJ3NBIAaFBHNlgEdIXUnYvoZRogQCLcB/s1600/Wake%2BUp%2BPresentations%2Bwith%2BPoll%2BEverywhere%2BPinterest.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Even at the end of the school year, sometimes a lecture can't be avoided in the secondary classroom. However, you can make that lecture more interesting and engaging by using Poll Everywhere. I give a quick tutorial about how to use Poll Everywhere in this blog post." border="0" data-pin-description="Even at the end of the school year, sometimes a lecture can't be avoided in the secondary classroom. However, you can make that lecture more interesting and engaging by using Poll Everywhere. I give a quick tutorial about how to use Poll Everywhere in this blog post." height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2-s3DmPDF9A/WPVg87HPGCI/AAAAAAAADAg/-F_0kDJ3NBIAaFBHNlgEdIXUnYvoZRogQCLcB/s320/Wake%2BUp%2BPresentations%2Bwith%2BPoll%2BEverywhere%2BPinterest.png" title="Even at the end of the school year, sometimes a lecture can't be avoided in the secondary classroom. However, you can make that lecture more interesting and engaging by using Poll Everywhere. I give a quick tutorial about how to use Poll Everywhere in this blog post." width="208" /></a>Wake Up Presentations with Poll Everywhere</h3><div>Poll Everywhere is nothing new. It's an app/website that enables you to create polls or even interactive word clouds. Your students text a code or visit a special web address, and they can respond to the poll and see the results in real time.</div><div><br /></div><div>That alone is pretty cool, but you can add the app to PowerPoint Presentations and Google Slides in order to make your presentations interactive. Below is a How-To for PowerPoint and Google Slides (it works the same in both).&nbsp;</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://bit.ly/2oiJU5B" target="_blank"><img alt="Even at the end of the school year, sometimes a lecture can't be avoided in the secondary classroom. However, you can make that lecture more interesting and engaging by using Poll Everywhere. I give a quick tutorial about how to use Poll Everywhere in this blog post." border="0" data-pin-description="Even at the end of the school year, sometimes a lecture can't be avoided in the secondary classroom. However, you can make that lecture more interesting and engaging by using Poll Everywhere. I give a quick tutorial about how to use Poll Everywhere in this blog post." height="494" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-guLZ4tN8n8A/WPVCtqwu-4I/AAAAAAAAC_0/MS_9Bvy176QZp0B9oM-kVXeeiiLiABt5wCLcB/s640/Wake%2BUp%2BPresentations%2Bwith%2BPoll%2BEverywhere.png" title="Even at the end of the school year, sometimes a lecture can't be avoided in the secondary classroom. However, you can make that lecture more interesting and engaging by using Poll Everywhere. I give a quick tutorial about how to use Poll Everywhere in this blog post." width="640" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://bit.ly/2oiJU5B" target="_blank">Download the Cheat Sheet!</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div>If you opt for the free version, then you can only poll 40 people at a time, but I find that is fine for most classrooms. The word cloud option (and the tax write-off) is the main reason I'd shell out the $50 a year.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>With the word cloud, students type in words from your prompt. I've always started topics with these on the whiteboard. So if we're discussing the Industrial Revolution, I might write, "Consumer," and students would create a word cloud with ideas that came to mind when they thought of that word (shopping, buying, taking, money...). With Poll Everywhere, students can type the words on their devices, and they appear in your presentation as a nice word cloud graphic.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, the word cloud does come with the free option, but the paid version allows the presenter to, uh-hem, make an undesirable word disappear with a click--quite often a necessity with secondary students.</div><div><br /></div><div>Whether you use the free or the paid version, Poll Everywhere is super useful for encouraging your students to be more than passive viewers at your lecture--it enables them to become participants.</div><div><br /></div><div>What are your best spring tech tips? Leave a comment below to let me know. And be sure to check out my other simple spring tech tips:</div></html><style> .HeaderText { margin-bottom: 10px; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; } .BlogButton { float: left; margin: 4px; } .ButtonGroup { margin-bottom: 20px; } .CatagoryText { font-size: 50px; font-weight: bolder; color: #000000; text-decoration: none; clear: both; padding-top: 35px; } .BodyText { font-size: 20px; font-weight: bolder; color: #000000; text-decoration: none; clear: both; padding-top: 35px; } .Credits { margin-top: 100px; } img.BlogButton { border: none; width: 115.05px; height: 176.25px; } </style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-7-add-variety-with.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton"src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E9D7I096rZc/WOxl7Uge0FI/AAAAAAAAC_Y/Gri0r8fgl4oFD1zgWnUuy5Hfhcamf_lTACLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png"/></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-6-wake-up-presentations.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2-s3DmPDF9A/WPVg87HPGCI/AAAAAAAADAg/-F_0kDJ3NBIAaFBHNlgEdIXUnYvoZRogQCLcB/s320/Wake%2BUp%2BPresentations%2Bwith%2BPoll%2BEverywhere%2BPinterest.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-5-type-in-present-mode.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V8Rt7Kdp7xI/WQY23dmyb4I/AAAAAAAADFk/Nd5QBD7eH_w1VlMOBresiuWGDZUBwSqsgCLcB/s320/How%2Bto%2BType%2Bin%2BPresent%2BMode%2Bin%2BPowerPoint.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-4-get-started-with.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fSsT4uM1JcE/WRJY6XvEYHI/AAAAAAAADGw/jZH8RBypkh82uyPx88zRrqTYhHJujC7ZACLcB/s320/Get%2BStarted%2Bwith%2BEDpuzzles%2B%25281%2529.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-3-customize-your-google.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X8R0dCDLfts/WRt0IcJAXQI/AAAAAAAADHc/O1QY6ulsdtUXoJ-WKgwk6G5EC6aGoEs8gCLcB/s320/Customize%2BYour%2BGoogle%2BClassroom%2BTheme.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-2-give.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RbcRAx1czt0/WSTsVDwYaGI/AAAAAAAADJU/c4OGIrMGJzkN59rmZuNI0E2y-yEzXx_VgCLcB/s320/Super%2BTeacher%2BTools%2BP.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/06/spring-tech-tip-1-set-custom-start-and.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C3t4Vn4GaeQ/WUCwpgy8ALI/AAAAAAAADMw/N_tKnaJhiakWWl6eaF8dWdDxMeG5kXMDQCLcBGAs/s320/Custom%2BStart%2BEnd%2BTimes%2BPinterest.png" /></a><br /></div></html><!-- Begin MailChimp Signup Form --><link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-10_7.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><style type="text/css"> #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ </style><br /><div id="mc_embed_signup"><form action="//blogspot.us10.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=186b802153fb21547cca716cb&amp;id=6a65daf72b" class="validate" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" method="post" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" novalidate="" target="_blank"><div id="mc_embed_signup_scroll"><h2>Subscribe to our mailing list</h2><div class="indicates-required"><span class="asterisk">*</span> indicates required</div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-EMAIL">Email Address <span class="asterisk">*</span></label> <input class="required email" id="mce-EMAIL" name="EMAIL" type="email" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group input-group"><strong>Email Format </strong> <br /><ul><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-0" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="html" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-0">html</label></li><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-1" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="text" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-1">text</label></li></ul></div><div class="clear" id="mce-responses"><div class="response" id="mce-error-response" style="display: none;"></div><div class="response" id="mce-success-response" style="display: none;"></div></div><!-- real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups--> <br /><div aria-hidden="true" style="left: -5000px; position: absolute;"><input name="b_186b802153fb21547cca716cb_6a65daf72b" tabindex="-1" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="clear"><input class="button" id="mc-embedded-subscribe" name="subscribe" type="submit" value="Subscribe" /></div></div></form></div><script src="//s3.amazonaws.com/downloads.mailchimp.com/js/mc-validate.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script type="text/javascript">(function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true);</script><!--End mc_embed_signup-->Leah Clearyhttps://plus.google.com/112034139671515193206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490708975258688106.post-52896949749298894652017-04-10T22:23:00.003-07:002017-06-13T21:33:07.491-07:00Spring Tech Tip 7: Add Variety with LearningApps<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eNHEcZpPu0Y/WOxf1_6SEuI/AAAAAAAAC_I/tDssd8o5FtQg-C7aG38tBQuZmc68OPfkQCLcB/s1600/Images.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="LearningApps is a free website that teachers can use to engage their students in interactive reviews, games, and quizzes. I'm sharing more about how LearningApps works and how you can get the most of out of it in my new Spring Tech Tip series post!" border="0" data-pin-description="LearningApps is a free website that teachers can use to engage their students in interactive reviews, games, and quizzes. I'm sharing more about how LearningApps works and how you can get the most of out of it in my new Spring Tech Tip series post!" height="308" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eNHEcZpPu0Y/WOxf1_6SEuI/AAAAAAAAC_I/tDssd8o5FtQg-C7aG38tBQuZmc68OPfkQCLcB/s400/Images.png" title="LearningApps is a free website that teachers can use to engage their students in interactive reviews, games, and quizzes. I'm sharing more about how LearningApps works and how you can get the most of out of it in my new Spring Tech Tip series post!" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">The school year is winding down, the natives (teachers and students) are getting restless, and it’s time for my annual countdown to summer vacation. In the past, I’ve written about <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2015/03/spring-survival-tip-9-use-kahoot-in.html" target="_blank">Spring Survival Tips</a></b> and <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/04/google-classroom-hack-6-grade-at-glance.html" target="_blank">Google Classroom Hacks</a></b> to help us all survive the heady springtime.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">This year, I’m moving in a different direction. I want to discuss technology, but I want to branch out from only Google Classroom (although one Classroom tip has made the cut, and I am an avid Google Classroom user), and discuss technology in general that will help you hold your students’ interest right until the bitter, bitter end. There is so much available out there for technology that is truly innovative and engaging.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">My goal with this series is to bring you the seven most innovative and engaging (oh, yes, and easy to use) technology tools out there to keep your students' minds off the beach and on their class work as we count down to the holy grail of holidays--summer break.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ll be bringing you seven weeks of Spring Technology Tips. Some are </span>technological<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;marvels that I’ve used in my own classroom and some are technology that my colleagues swear by.&nbsp;</span><br /><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E9D7I096rZc/WOxl7Uge0FI/AAAAAAAAC_Y/Gri0r8fgl4oFD1zgWnUuy5Hfhcamf_lTACLcB/s1600/Long%2BTemplate.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="LearningApps is a free website that teachers can use to engage their students in interactive reviews, games, and quizzes. I'm sharing more about how LearningApps works and how you can get the most of out of it in my new Spring Tech Tip series post!" border="0" data-pin-description="LearningApps is a free website that teachers can use to engage their students in interactive reviews, games, and quizzes. I'm sharing more about how LearningApps works and how you can get the most of out of it in my new Spring Tech Tip series post!" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E9D7I096rZc/WOxl7Uge0FI/AAAAAAAAC_Y/Gri0r8fgl4oFD1zgWnUuy5Hfhcamf_lTACLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" title="LearningApps is a free website that teachers can use to engage their students in interactive reviews, games, and quizzes. I'm sharing more about how LearningApps works and how you can get the most of out of it in my new Spring Tech Tip series post!" width="208" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">So here is Spring Tech Tip #7:&nbsp;</span><br /><h3><span style="font-family: inherit;">Add Variety with LearningApps</span></h3><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://learningapps.org/" target="_blank">LearningApps</a></b> is a free website that allows you to create interactive reviews, games, and quizzes to share with your students by link, or you can create a classroom within learning apps for your students to join via a special link (once they have created a free account for themselves).&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The site itself is German, but there are TONS of resources in English. You can search the site by grade range and subject for already created activities or easily generate activities of your own. It is very simple to create these apps--you decide the format you want to use, click the app template, and fill in the information.</span><br /><h3><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here's How to Get Started with LearningApps</span><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YmeBBq_P-qQ/WOxAwDmdDjI/AAAAAAAAC8E/mtrfLLOjJqsoZyn71eVBD-ue8gSH9W6mQCLcB/s1600/Slide1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="LearningApps is a free website that teachers can use to engage their students in interactive reviews, games, and quizzes. I'm sharing more about how LearningApps works and how you can get the most of out of it in my new Spring Tech Tip series post!" border="0" data-pin-description="LearningApps is a free website that teachers can use to engage their students in interactive reviews, games, and quizzes. I'm sharing more about how LearningApps works and how you can get the most of out of it in my new Spring Tech Tip series post!" height="494" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YmeBBq_P-qQ/WOxAwDmdDjI/AAAAAAAAC8E/mtrfLLOjJqsoZyn71eVBD-ue8gSH9W6mQCLcB/s640/Slide1.PNG" title="LearningApps is a free website that teachers can use to engage their students in interactive reviews, games, and quizzes. I'm sharing more about how LearningApps works and how you can get the most of out of it in my new Spring Tech Tip series post!" width="640" /></a></h3><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H7wpMHaAnWc/WOxAx_s6-wI/AAAAAAAAC8I/ulSQUZZdz2UuARKq1cUuXdbgGQVg9cfCwCLcB/s1600/Slide2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="LearningApps is a free website that teachers can use to engage their students in interactive reviews, games, and quizzes. I'm sharing more about how LearningApps works and how you can get the most of out of it in my new Spring Tech Tip series post!" border="0" data-pin-description="LearningApps is a free website that teachers can use to engage their students in interactive reviews, games, and quizzes. I'm sharing more about how LearningApps works and how you can get the most of out of it in my new Spring Tech Tip series post!" height="494" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H7wpMHaAnWc/WOxAx_s6-wI/AAAAAAAAC8I/ulSQUZZdz2UuARKq1cUuXdbgGQVg9cfCwCLcB/s640/Slide2.PNG" title="LearningApps is a free website that teachers can use to engage their students in interactive reviews, games, and quizzes. I'm sharing more about how LearningApps works and how you can get the most of out of it in my new Spring Tech Tip series post!" width="640" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RZpnyW3eAMQ/WOxAzFFiufI/AAAAAAAAC8M/yXLs224Y6fQjtbk00gMt2UA5vCBaz-SOACLcB/s1600/Slide3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="LearningApps is a free website that teachers can use to engage their students in interactive reviews, games, and quizzes. I'm sharing more about how LearningApps works and how you can get the most of out of it in my new Spring Tech Tip series post!" border="0" data-pin-description="LearningApps is a free website that teachers can use to engage their students in interactive reviews, games, and quizzes. I'm sharing more about how LearningApps works and how you can get the most of out of it in my new Spring Tech Tip series post!" height="494" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RZpnyW3eAMQ/WOxAzFFiufI/AAAAAAAAC8M/yXLs224Y6fQjtbk00gMt2UA5vCBaz-SOACLcB/s640/Slide3.PNG" title="LearningApps is a free website that teachers can use to engage their students in interactive reviews, games, and quizzes. I'm sharing more about how LearningApps works and how you can get the most of out of it in my new Spring Tech Tip series post!" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click <b><a href="http://bit.ly/2o21r1F" target="_blank">HERE</a></b> to Download the Free Cheat Sheet</td></tr></tbody></table><h3><span style="font-family: inherit;">Watch Me Make An App with LearningApps</span></h3><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tomorrow, I'm giving notes over the Industrial Revolution in my world history class. The tenth graders are freshly back from spring break, it's a full moon, and this can be a dry topic, but it's an extremely important one. I'm creating this app to share in Google Classroom. Students will play in pairs as an alternative to a note quiz for a review. I'll also embed it right here for you to try.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/m59n21UZU64/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/m59n21UZU64?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><h3>Try It Out!</h3><br /></div><div><iframe mozallowfullscreen="true" src="//LearningApps.org/watch?v=pe1924ce217" style="border: 0px; height: 500px; width: 100%;" webkitallowfullscreen="true"></iframe> What is your favorite classroom technology? Leave a comment below and let me know! And don't forget to check out my other quick and simple spring tech tips:</div></html><style> .HeaderText { margin-bottom: 10px; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; } .BlogButton { float: left; margin: 4px; } .ButtonGroup { margin-bottom: 20px; } .CatagoryText { font-size: 50px; font-weight: bolder; color: #000000; text-decoration: none; clear: both; padding-top: 35px; } .BodyText { font-size: 20px; font-weight: bolder; color: #000000; text-decoration: none; clear: both; padding-top: 35px; } .Credits { margin-top: 100px; } img.BlogButton { border: none; width: 115.05px; height: 176.25px; } </style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-7-add-variety-with.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton"src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E9D7I096rZc/WOxl7Uge0FI/AAAAAAAAC_Y/Gri0r8fgl4oFD1zgWnUuy5Hfhcamf_lTACLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png"/></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-6-wake-up-presentations.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2-s3DmPDF9A/WPVg87HPGCI/AAAAAAAADAg/-F_0kDJ3NBIAaFBHNlgEdIXUnYvoZRogQCLcB/s320/Wake%2BUp%2BPresentations%2Bwith%2BPoll%2BEverywhere%2BPinterest.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/04/spring-tech-tip-5-type-in-present-mode.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V8Rt7Kdp7xI/WQY23dmyb4I/AAAAAAAADFk/Nd5QBD7eH_w1VlMOBresiuWGDZUBwSqsgCLcB/s320/How%2Bto%2BType%2Bin%2BPresent%2BMode%2Bin%2BPowerPoint.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-4-get-started-with.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fSsT4uM1JcE/WRJY6XvEYHI/AAAAAAAADGw/jZH8RBypkh82uyPx88zRrqTYhHJujC7ZACLcB/s320/Get%2BStarted%2Bwith%2BEDpuzzles%2B%25281%2529.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-3-customize-your-google.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X8R0dCDLfts/WRt0IcJAXQI/AAAAAAAADHc/O1QY6ulsdtUXoJ-WKgwk6G5EC6aGoEs8gCLcB/s320/Customize%2BYour%2BGoogle%2BClassroom%2BTheme.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/05/spring-tech-tip-2-give.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RbcRAx1czt0/WSTsVDwYaGI/AAAAAAAADJU/c4OGIrMGJzkN59rmZuNI0E2y-yEzXx_VgCLcB/s320/Super%2BTeacher%2BTools%2BP.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/06/spring-tech-tip-1-set-custom-start-and.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C3t4Vn4GaeQ/WUCwpgy8ALI/AAAAAAAADMw/N_tKnaJhiakWWl6eaF8dWdDxMeG5kXMDQCLcBGAs/s320/Custom%2BStart%2BEnd%2BTimes%2BPinterest.png" /></a><br /></div></html><!-- Begin MailChimp Signup Form --><link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-10_7.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><style type="text/css"> #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ </style><br /><div id="mc_embed_signup"><form action="//blogspot.us10.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=186b802153fb21547cca716cb&amp;id=6a65daf72b" class="validate" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" method="post" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" novalidate="" target="_blank"><div id="mc_embed_signup_scroll"><h2>Subscribe to our mailing list</h2><div class="indicates-required"><span class="asterisk">*</span> indicates required</div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-EMAIL">Email Address <span class="asterisk">*</span></label> <input class="required email" id="mce-EMAIL" name="EMAIL" type="email" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group input-group"><strong>Email Format </strong> <br /><ul><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-0" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="html" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-0">html</label></li><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-1" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="text" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-1">text</label></li></ul></div><div class="clear" id="mce-responses"><div class="response" id="mce-error-response" style="display: none;"></div><div class="response" id="mce-success-response" style="display: none;"></div></div><!-- real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups--> <br /><div aria-hidden="true" style="left: -5000px; position: absolute;"><input name="b_186b802153fb21547cca716cb_6a65daf72b" tabindex="-1" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="clear"><input class="button" id="mc-embedded-subscribe" name="subscribe" type="submit" value="Subscribe" /></div></div></form></div><script src="//s3.amazonaws.com/downloads.mailchimp.com/js/mc-validate.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script type="text/javascript">(function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true);</script><!--End mc_embed_signup-->Leah Clearyhttps://plus.google.com/112034139671515193206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490708975258688106.post-60370585933364569552017-03-27T18:36:00.000-07:002017-04-09T15:08:16.939-07:00The Problem with Cell Phones<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rdbd1e0FX_Y/WNmdhQODqlI/AAAAAAAAC0A/o1DFVA7b8KwlCC4IS_haR6Irmb9vqUlfwCLcB/s1600/Long%2BTemplate.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Do you struggle with cell phones in the classroom? They can be excellent tools for learning, but more often than not, they are a huge distraction. Check out this post about some of the ways students can use their portable devices for nefarious purposes and how the 1:1 classroom can offer a solution." border="0" data-pin-description="Do you struggle with cell phones in the classroom? They can be excellent tools for learning, but more often than not, they are a huge distraction. Check out this post about some of the ways students can use their portable devices for nefarious purposes and how the 1:1 classroom can offer a solution." height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rdbd1e0FX_Y/WNmdhQODqlI/AAAAAAAAC0A/o1DFVA7b8KwlCC4IS_haR6Irmb9vqUlfwCLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" title="Do you struggle with cell phones in the classroom? They can be excellent tools for learning, but more often than not, they are a huge distraction. Check out this post about some of the ways students can use their portable devices for nefarious purposes and how the 1:1 classroom can offer a solution." width="208" /></a>Back in the late 90s, I drove an 86 Cavalier that had a bad habit of breaking down in the most inopportune of places--the middle of the interstate when I was cruising in the center lane (fortunately in light traffic), at a traffic light on a major road during rush hour, exiting a parking garage downtown with a line of cars behind me.<br /><br />It was the late 90s, so there was always a payphone a short walk away (well, except for in the middle of the interstate).<br /><br />Then there was the time I had a late exam at Georgia State. I decided to take a short cut through a less than desirable neighborhood filled with dilapidated buildings and dark alleys. The street lights were sparse and so were the signs of people.<br /><br />I stopped at a red light, double checked to make sure my doors were locked, and took my foot off the brakes when the light turned green. I tapped the gas, and nothing happened. I turned the key, and the engine hiccuped, but nothing. I waited a minute, and tried again. Nothing.<br /><br />Now a smart person would have sat there with the doors locked and waited for a police car. But I was not smart. I was 19. So I got out of the car and ran across the street to a liquor store. It was dark--closed. I looked around, and nothing seemed to be open. But there was a solitary payphone in the parking lot.<br /><br />I ran to the payphone, dropped in my quarter (remember always keeping quarters on hand?), and dialed my dad. When I told him the street I was on, he instructed me to get back in the car, lock the doors, and wait for him.<br /><br />The next day he bought me my first cell phone.<br /><br />Cell phones are an amazing invention. They are a portable safety precaution. I don't want to go back to the days of crossing traffic or dark, empty streets searching for pay phones. Cell phones are infinitely useful--much more so than they were in the late 90s.<br /><br />But cell phones are a distraction at school.<br /><br />Don't get me wrong--I know they have their uses. Before we went 1:1, they were helpful for scanning QR codes and finding information. I had a Bring Your Own Technology class, and we needed them for some of our activities.<br /><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m-skJFjgbYo/WNmd_2Y85_I/AAAAAAAAC0E/Uq18LLroo7YDrp1srSCuekqhB_QG0yTAACLcB/s1600/b07a3477-2981.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Do you struggle with cell phones in the classroom? They can be excellent tools for learning, but more often than not, they are a huge distraction. Check out this post about some of the ways students can use their portable devices for nefarious purposes and how the 1:1 classroom can offer a solution." border="0" data-pin-description="Do you struggle with cell phones in the classroom? They can be excellent tools for learning, but more often than not, they are a huge distraction. Check out this post about some of the ways students can use their portable devices for nefarious purposes and how the 1:1 classroom can offer a solution." height="213" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m-skJFjgbYo/WNmd_2Y85_I/AAAAAAAAC0E/Uq18LLroo7YDrp1srSCuekqhB_QG0yTAACLcB/s320/b07a3477-2981.jpg" title="Do you struggle with cell phones in the classroom? They can be excellent tools for learning, but more often than not, they are a huge distraction. Check out this post about some of the ways students can use their portable devices for nefarious purposes and how the 1:1 classroom can offer a solution." width="320" /></a><br />But there are many problems with having them in the classroom. First and foremost, they are nearly impossible to monitor. No matter how great you are at classroom management, those screens are small. Those apps close fast. There's one of you and 25 to 32 of them.<br /><br />Here are a few ways that cellphones can make learning incredibly difficult:<br /><br />1. Kids use them to cheat.<br />They take pictures of their assignments and text them to each other. They google answers surreptitiously while testing. They search online for answer keys to assignments.<br /><br />2. Kids steam video during class.<br />There's Youtube, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, to name a few. The school may have these sites blocked, but students can always switch to their own data. I overheard a student saying that she always watches <i>Grey's Anatomy</i>&nbsp;during math class. Think that teacher's falling down on the job? Wireless earbuds and overcrowded classrooms make it much easier to be sneaky than you might think. I busted a student binging on <i>Fuller House </i>in my own classroom, and I'm "involved." I'm sure there are many I haven't busted.<br /><br />3. Kids are distracted by texting and social media.<br />Middle and high school are already hotbeds of drama. Try engaging a student in chemistry or world history amid a Snapchat drama--it's a fantasy.<br /><br />4. Those games are addictive.<br />They especially love those short games they can play with each other on Message, such as pool or tic-tac-toe. That is way more engaging to most of them than <i>To Kill a Mockingbird.</i><br /><i><br /></i>5. They like to video us and each other.<br />This is nothing new, but it can create quite the stir when these videos get around. And if they film something in your classroom that goes viral, that's not a good place to find yourself.<br /><br />6. They use them to sabotage class games.<br /><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jSP0iYP7MjM/WNmyytlpICI/AAAAAAAAC0U/PTTEtXY499kVhrlEcZyKG4_h4E9_QFdAACLcB/s1600/Long%2BTemplate%2B2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Do you struggle with cell phones in the classroom? They can be excellent tools for learning, but more often than not, they are a huge distraction. Check out this post about some of the ways students can use their portable devices for nefarious purposes and how the 1:1 classroom can offer a solution." border="0" data-pin-description="Do you struggle with cell phones in the classroom? They can be excellent tools for learning, but more often than not, they are a huge distraction. Check out this post about some of the ways students can use their portable devices for nefarious purposes and how the 1:1 classroom can offer a solution." height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jSP0iYP7MjM/WNmyytlpICI/AAAAAAAAC0U/PTTEtXY499kVhrlEcZyKG4_h4E9_QFdAACLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate%2B2.png" title="Do you struggle with cell phones in the classroom? They can be excellent tools for learning, but more often than not, they are a huge distraction. Check out this post about some of the ways students can use their portable devices for nefarious purposes and how the 1:1 classroom can offer a solution." width="208" /></a>I've heard of cases of students texting pin codes to their friends during games like Kahoot! so that students who aren't even in the classroom enter the game with inappropriate names and other such nonsense to waste class time.<br /><br />There are many other nefarious ways students use those phones at school. They can be valuable tools,<br />but allowing them in the classroom has opened Pandora's Box.<br /><br />So now that we are 1:1 with Chromebooks, I don't allow them. Students check them into a shoe bag when they enter the classroom. If they don't check them and I see them out, I take them.<br /><br />This doesn't solve every issue--students are way savvier than we are about technology, but it cuts down on a lot of mischief and distraction.<br /><br />And as for the Chromebooks? I can monitor those much more easily. Our district uses Goguardian, a program that allows teachers to display each student's screen on the teacher's screen. If students are off task on their Chromebooks, I can close the offending tab. If they persist, I can lock their Chromebook. At least I have some control with those.<br /><br />1:1 classrooms open the students up to so many wonderful learning experiences, but technology also opens them up to so many more opportunities for distraction. Teacher control of the technology in use is vital to creating an effective learning environment in the blended classroom.<br /><br />How do you "control" the technology in your classroom in order to make it a learning tool and not a distraction? Leave a comment below, and let me know. And be sure to stick around and check out the other posts in my Blended Classroom Tips and Tricks series.<br /><br /><style> .HeaderText { margin-bottom: 10px; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; } .BlogButton { float: left; margin: 4px; } .ButtonGroup { margin-bottom: 20px; } .CatagoryText { font-size: 50px; font-weight: bolder; color: #000000; text-decoration: none; clear: both; padding-top: 35px; } .BodyText { font-size: 20px; font-weight: bolder; color: #000000; text-decoration: none; clear: both; padding-top: 35px; } .Credits { margin-top: 100px; } img.BlogButton { border: none; width: 115.05px; height: 176.25px; } </style> <br /><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/09/submitting-pen-and-paper-work-digitally.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Blended Classroom Tips and Tricks: Submit Pen and Paper Work with a Chromebook" class="BlogButton" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gYQRJgHm1cQ/V9XXIHCKyhI/AAAAAAAACco/T2_5SmycWakkoAPF9cmS4qeVAVfcUBTdACLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" title="Blended Classroom Tips and Tricks: Submit Pen and Paper Work with a Chromebook" /></a></div><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/09/poll-students-with-google-classroom.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Blended Classroom Tips and Tricks: Poll Students with Google Classroom" class="BlogButton" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MCQI85LNi_k/V-CYWmHF3ZI/AAAAAAAACeI/BuihUyfg-zg-q25E-0ocCtDDmfgY9YvTQCLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" title="Blended Classroom Tips and Tricks: Poll Students with Google Classroom" /></a></div><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/09/help-students-stay-organized-with.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Blended Classroom Tips and Tricks: Stay Organized with the Google Classroom Stream" class="BlogButton" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-prSwx1505kc/V-hCgZUdALI/AAAAAAAACfE/paMRSFe8RsAvFF3MdlK0areNNJGWN5IMQCLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" title="Blended Classroom Tips and Tricks: Stay Organized with the Google Classroom Stream" /></a></div><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/10/three-tips-for-managing-your-blended.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Blended Classroom Tips and Tricks: 3 Tips for Managing Your Blended Class" class="BlogButton" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7ilQ_ESZXeM/WAU--9uovlI/AAAAAAAACjM/1WkRn3jCWr8HVYUOtiDd7RRZBYISpseqwCLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" title="Blended Classroom Tips and Tricks: 3 Tips for Managing Your Blended Class" /></a></div><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/01/using-google-forms-to-create-self.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Blended Classroom Tips and Tricks: Using Google Forms to Create Self-Grading Quizzes" class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-asuUIB14Sgo/WHV6Ae_e4nI/AAAAAAAACoE/AUshz4oU1dwNSObGevXdbOTl4kgrynywACLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" title="Blended Classroom Tips and Tricks: Using Google Forms to Create Self-Grading Quizzes" /></a></div><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/02/enabling-adobe-flash-on-chomebook.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Blended Classroom Tips and Tricks: Enabling Adobe Flash on Google Chromebooks" class="BlogButton" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VnRLtia33yU/WLTtRCy5mVI/AAAAAAAACs4/twaVJTKrLwU1qvuYVl0ypyi0zbelpBjmgCLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" title="Blended Classroom Tips and Tricks: Enabling Adobe Flash on Google Chromebooks" /></a></div><br /><img src="http://www.crayonboxlearning.com/images/leah-signature.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: none;" /><!-- Begin MailChimp Signup Form --><link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-10_7.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><style type="text/css"> #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ </style><br /><div id="mc_embed_signup"><form action="//blogspot.us10.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=186b802153fb21547cca716cb&amp;id=6a65daf72b" class="validate" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" method="post" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" novalidate="" target="_blank"><div id="mc_embed_signup_scroll"><h2>Subscribe to our mailing list</h2><div class="indicates-required"><span class="asterisk">*</span> indicates required</div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-EMAIL">Email Address <span class="asterisk">*</span></label> <input class="required email" id="mce-EMAIL" name="EMAIL" type="email" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group input-group"><strong>Email Format </strong> <br /><ul><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-0" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="html" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-0">html</label></li><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-1" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="text" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-1">text</label></li></ul></div><div class="clear" id="mce-responses"><div class="response" id="mce-error-response" style="display: none;"></div><div class="response" id="mce-success-response" style="display: none;"></div></div><!-- real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups--> <br /><div aria-hidden="true" style="left: -5000px; position: absolute;"><input name="b_186b802153fb21547cca716cb_6a65daf72b" tabindex="-1" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="clear"><input class="button" id="mc-embedded-subscribe" name="subscribe" type="submit" value="Subscribe" /></div></div></form></div><script src="//s3.amazonaws.com/downloads.mailchimp.com/js/mc-validate.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script type="text/javascript">(function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true);</script><!--End mc_embed_signup-->Leah Clearyhttps://plus.google.com/112034139671515193206noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490708975258688106.post-17165098994120409362017-02-28T19:04:00.002-08:002018-02-05T14:44:57.670-08:00Enabling Adobe Flash on a Chomebook<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VnRLtia33yU/WLTtRCy5mVI/AAAAAAAACs4/twaVJTKrLwU1qvuYVl0ypyi0zbelpBjmgCLcB/s1600/Long%2BTemplate.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Have you run into the issue of not being able to access a website due to Adobe Flash not being enabled? This happened to me during a recent lesson, and after a quick in-class Google, I figured out how to enable Adobe Flash on a Chromebook. This short blog post explains exactly how to fix this problem so that you don't run into the same mid-class problem that I did!" border="0" data-pin-description="Have you run into the issue of not being able to access a website due to Adobe Flash not being enabled? This happened to me during a recent lesson, and after a quick in-class Google, I figured out how to enable Adobe Flash on a Chromebook. This short blog post explains exactly how to fix this problem so that you don't run into the same mid-class problem that I did!" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VnRLtia33yU/WLTtRCy5mVI/AAAAAAAACs4/twaVJTKrLwU1qvuYVl0ypyi0zbelpBjmgCLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" title="Have you run into the issue of not being able to access a website due to Adobe Flash not being enabled? This happened to me during a recent lesson, and after a quick in-class Google, I figured out how to enable Adobe Flash on a Chromebook. This short blog post explains exactly how to fix this problem so that you don't run into the same mid-class problem that I did!" width="208" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My students were working on a simple activity in class last week--at least I thought it was simple.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">They were to take a virtual tour of a medieval manor.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">They were to answer questions regarding that tour.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">They were to drag and drop pieces to label the parts of a manor.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I assigned </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Medieval-Manor-Activity-for-Google-Classroom-and-OneDrive-3039250" target="_blank">this activity</a></b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to save time. I had to be out with my sick son last Tuesday, and we were a day behind. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but a huge deal when you are trying to teach the history of the world in 18 weeks. There is no time to spare.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have this </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Middle-Ages-Manorial-System-Pop-Up-1432916" target="_blank">manor pop-up activity</a></b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that I like to do with the middle ages, but it takes an entire block, and we just didn’t have that much time to spare.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So I went with the quick way to teach </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Medieval-Manor-Activity-for-Google-Classroom-and-OneDrive-3039250" target="_blank">medieval manors</a></b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that I mentioned above. And it should have been perfect. Quick. Easy. It hit the high points.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No sooner did the students begin working on the activity than hands began shooting up. With impatient sophomores, that in and of itself is a recipe for disaster. </span></span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; text-indent: 48px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Add to the mix any free time, and forget about it. You’re outnumbered. You might as well go ahead and raise the white flag.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">They could access the website for the virtual tour, but they could not view the tour because Adobe Flash was not enabled on their Chromebooks.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had to think fast. I took one student’s Chromebook and tried to install Flash. No go. The natives were getting restless, so I did what anybody would do in 2017. I googled the problem. </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It turns out it was an easy fix:</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Go the the URL address bar in Chrome.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Type “Chrome://plugin” (no quotation marks).</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Check the box “always enable” for Adobe Flash.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZOFcdHDMkk4/WLTtb0dQ0SI/AAAAAAAACs8/0zyonM_3uhgWJm1F2ESN4GDw7OqBzHWcwCLcB/s1600/Picture1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Have you run into the issue of not being able to access a website due to Adobe Flash not being enabled? This happened to me during a recent lesson, and after a quick in-class Google, I figured out how to enable Adobe Flash on a Chromebook. This short blog post explains exactly how to fix this problem so that you don't run into the same mid-class problem that I did!" border="0" height="125" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZOFcdHDMkk4/WLTtb0dQ0SI/AAAAAAAACs8/0zyonM_3uhgWJm1F2ESN4GDw7OqBzHWcwCLcB/s400/Picture1.png" title="Have you run into the issue of not being able to access a website due to Adobe Flash not being enabled? This happened to me during a recent lesson, and after a quick in-class Google, I figured out how to enable Adobe Flash on a Chromebook. This short blog post explains exactly how to fix this problem so that you don't run into the same mid-class problem that I did!" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Problem solved for the Chromebook.</span></span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P1Ag892Ri-M/WLY4stAQlgI/AAAAAAAACtU/xUCIHK8Jp04ZpFVbz_osoTZp_Iijgr_qgCLcB/s1600/Cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P1Ag892Ri-M/WLY4stAQlgI/AAAAAAAACtU/xUCIHK8Jp04ZpFVbz_osoTZp_Iijgr_qgCLcB/s200/Cover.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Check out the (now) quick and simple activity <b><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Medieval-Manor-Activity-for-Google-Classroom-and-OneDrive-3039250" target="_blank">HERE</a></b>.</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As for getting it to work on an IPad--you have to go through the Apple Store for that. Apple has its own version of Flash, so it doesn’t let Adobe run. Unfortunately, that will cost you. You'll have to get an Apple approved app.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple does support HTML5, though, which is starting to replace Flash around the web, so this will all be moot in a couple of years (probably).</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Be sure to stick around and check out the other posts in my Blended Classroom Tips and Tricks series.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">And be sure to let us know about your tips and tricks in the comments below!</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre;"> </span></div><style> .HeaderText { margin-bottom: 10px; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; } .BlogButton { float: left; margin: 4px; } .ButtonGroup { margin-bottom: 20px; } .CatagoryText { font-size: 50px; font-weight: bolder; color: #000000; text-decoration: none; clear: both; padding-top: 35px; } .BodyText { font-size: 20px; font-weight: bolder; color: #000000; text-decoration: none; clear: both; padding-top: 35px; } .Credits { margin-top: 100px; } img.BlogButton { border: none; width: 115.05px; height: 176.25px; } </style> <br /><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/09/submitting-pen-and-paper-work-digitally.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gYQRJgHm1cQ/V9XXIHCKyhI/AAAAAAAACco/T2_5SmycWakkoAPF9cmS4qeVAVfcUBTdACLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" /></a></div><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/09/poll-students-with-google-classroom.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MCQI85LNi_k/V-CYWmHF3ZI/AAAAAAAACeI/BuihUyfg-zg-q25E-0ocCtDDmfgY9YvTQCLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" /></a></div><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/09/help-students-stay-organized-with.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-prSwx1505kc/V-hCgZUdALI/AAAAAAAACfE/paMRSFe8RsAvFF3MdlK0areNNJGWN5IMQCLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" /></a></div><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/10/three-tips-for-managing-your-blended.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7ilQ_ESZXeM/WAU--9uovlI/AAAAAAAACjM/1WkRn3jCWr8HVYUOtiDd7RRZBYISpseqwCLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" /></a></div><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/01/using-google-forms-to-create-self.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-asuUIB14Sgo/WHV6Ae_e4nI/AAAAAAAACoE/AUshz4oU1dwNSObGevXdbOTl4kgrynywACLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" /></a></div><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/02/enabling-adobe-flash-on-chomebook.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VnRLtia33yU/WLTtRCy5mVI/AAAAAAAACs4/twaVJTKrLwU1qvuYVl0ypyi0zbelpBjmgCLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" /></a></div><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/03/the-problem-with-cell-phones.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rdbd1e0FX_Y/WNmdhQODqlI/AAAAAAAAC0A/o1DFVA7b8KwlCC4IS_haR6Irmb9vqUlfwCLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" /></a></div><br /><img src="http://www.crayonboxlearning.com/images/leah-signature.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: none;" /><!-- Begin MailChimp Signup Form --><link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-10_7.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><style type="text/css"> #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ </style><br /><div id="mc_embed_signup"><form action="//blogspot.us10.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=186b802153fb21547cca716cb&amp;id=6a65daf72b" class="validate" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" method="post" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" novalidate="" target="_blank"><div id="mc_embed_signup_scroll"><h2>Subscribe to our mailing list</h2><div class="indicates-required"><span class="asterisk">*</span> indicates required</div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-EMAIL">Email Address <span class="asterisk">*</span></label> <input class="required email" id="mce-EMAIL" name="EMAIL" type="email" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group input-group"><strong>Email Format </strong> <br /><ul><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-0" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="html" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-0">html</label></li><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-1" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="text" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-1">text</label></li></ul></div><div class="clear" id="mce-responses"><div class="response" id="mce-error-response" style="display: none;"></div><div class="response" id="mce-success-response" style="display: none;"></div></div><!-- real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups--> <br /><div aria-hidden="true" style="left: -5000px; position: absolute;"><input name="b_186b802153fb21547cca716cb_6a65daf72b" tabindex="-1" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="clear"><input class="button" id="mc-embedded-subscribe" name="subscribe" type="submit" value="Subscribe" /></div></div></form></div><script src="//s3.amazonaws.com/downloads.mailchimp.com/js/mc-validate.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script type="text/javascript">(function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true);</script><!--End mc_embed_signup-->Leah Clearyhttps://plus.google.com/112034139671515193206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490708975258688106.post-42858038330116216782017-01-29T16:23:00.000-08:002017-04-09T15:08:57.127-07:00Try Something New--Digital Task Cards<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nRdDZbyiygY/WI6lDeVc9II/AAAAAAAACsY/TKOmjhEopiQyvVg_W6hPVE0qxwWBbeKkQCLcB/s1600/Long%2BTemplate.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Digital task cards are great, but just like more traditional teaching methods, they can become stale and old when used too frequently. In this post I describe how I switch up my digital task cards to make them more interesting for students. Be sure to read the post and chime in with how you update your content mid-year to keep it fresh for students!" border="0" data-pin-description="Digital task cards are great, but just like more traditional teaching methods, they can become stale and old when used too frequently. In this post I describe how I switch up my digital task cards to make them more interesting for students. Be sure to read the post and chime in with how you update your content mid-year to keep it fresh for students!" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nRdDZbyiygY/WI6lDeVc9II/AAAAAAAACsY/TKOmjhEopiQyvVg_W6hPVE0qxwWBbeKkQCLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" title="Digital task cards are great, but just like more traditional teaching methods, they can become stale and old when used too frequently. In this post I describe how I switch up my digital task cards to make them more interesting for students. Be sure to read the post and chime in with how you update your content mid-year to keep it fresh for students!" width="208" /></a>I was talking to a group of my social studies friends not too long ago about how easy it is to fall into a rut--even with the fun stuff. Kahoot!, Jeopardy, Quizlet Live, Quizziz, Gallery Walks, Cutting and Folding, Stations--these are all fun, for us and the students, but once you're halfway through the year and you've done all of this, it's time for a change.<br /><br />My school went 1:1 in August of 2016, and I've been blending my interactive notebooks (paper/digital hybrid) since January of 2016, so there's a lot of variety in my classroom. <b><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Blended-Interactive-Notebook-Guide-for-the-Digital-Classroom-2362581" target="_blank">Here's a free guide about how to do it</a></b>.<br /><br />We color, we fold, we paste, we drag and we drop, we flip, we type, we use task cards as games and for we use them for review.<br /><br />But assign the same thing over and over, and it becomes as stale as lecture and notes (which are great, used sparingly).<br /><br />So I've decided to mix it up a bit with digital task cards. Have you ever noticed that changing the format and medium of something makes it more interesting?<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e-e5py7kshk/WI6CtFE3sEI/AAAAAAAACrs/JpnBfJGaq-EySKN-QjQSryJvIwXiI217ACLcB/s1600/Cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Digital task cards are great, but just like more traditional teaching methods, they can become stale and old when used too frequently. In this post I describe how I switch up my digital task cards to make them more interesting for students. Be sure to read the post and chime in with how you update your content mid-year to keep it fresh for students!" border="0" data-pin-description="Digital task cards are great, but just like more traditional teaching methods, they can become stale and old when used too frequently. In this post I describe how I switch up my digital task cards to make them more interesting for students. Be sure to read the post and chime in with how you update your content mid-year to keep it fresh for students!" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e-e5py7kshk/WI6CtFE3sEI/AAAAAAAACrs/JpnBfJGaq-EySKN-QjQSryJvIwXiI217ACLcB/s200/Cover.png" title="Digital task cards are great, but just like more traditional teaching methods, they can become stale and old when used too frequently. In this post I describe how I switch up my digital task cards to make them more interesting for students. Be sure to read the post and chime in with how you update your content mid-year to keep it fresh for students!" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Civil-Rights-Task-Cards-for-Google-Classroom-and-One-Drive-2963706" target="_blank">Here it is!</a></td></tr></tbody></table>That's what I've done with these digital Civil Rights Task Cards, and I'm very pleased with the results.<br /><br />I assign these to my students in Google Classroom, so there's no prep on my part. It's basically a web quest, but don't tell them that.<br /><br />This format allows me to have them do comprehensive research over the American Civil Rights Movement in small bites, so they don't realize they are doing comprehensive research.<br /><br />The tasks on each card are more varied than simply asking and answering questions, so the students are engaged. Here are some examples:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Civil-Rights-Task-Cards-for-Google-Classroom-and-One-Drive-2963706" target="_blank"><img alt="Digital task cards are great, but just like more traditional teaching methods, they can become stale and old when used too frequently. In this post I describe how I switch up my digital task cards to make them more interesting for students. Be sure to read the post and chime in with how you update your content mid-year to keep it fresh for students!" border="0" data-pin-description="Digital task cards are great, but just like more traditional teaching methods, they can become stale and old when used too frequently. In this post I describe how I switch up my digital task cards to make them more interesting for students. Be sure to read the post and chime in with how you update your content mid-year to keep it fresh for students!" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bs3laJuccDU/WI5188wlQ7I/AAAAAAAACqM/dD0cYIWHzp03678MRb1EOAIGdjYCN_AKACLcB/s640/Task%2BCard%2BImages.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Digital task cards are great, but just like more traditional teaching methods, they can become stale and old when used too frequently. In this post I describe how I switch up my digital task cards to make them more interesting for students. Be sure to read the post and chime in with how you update your content mid-year to keep it fresh for students!" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Civil-Rights-Task-Cards-for-Google-Classroom-and-One-Drive-2963706" target="_blank">Preview it here!</a></td></tr></tbody></table>When they finish all 24 cards, there are four additional cards with mini-projects. I have them choose one to complete as an extension activity.<br /><br />This way, when February and the Black History Program arrive, my students already have a good understanding of key events and the progression of the Civil Rights movement.<br /><br />What strategies are you using to "freshen" up your content halfway through? Leave a comment below to let me know. And be sure to check out the links below to find out what new things other social studies teachers are doing this year in their classrooms!<br /><img src="http://www.crayonboxlearning.com/images/leah-signature.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: none;" /><!-- start InLinkz script --> <br /><div class="InLinkzContainer" id="692888"><a href="http://www.inlinkz.com/new/view.php?id=692888" rel="nofollow" title="click to view in an external page.">An InLinkz Link-up</a></div><script src="https://static.inlinkz.com/cs2.js" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- end InLinkz script --><!-- Begin MailChimp Signup Form --><link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-10_7.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><style type="text/css"> #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ </style><br /><div id="mc_embed_signup"><form action="//blogspot.us10.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=186b802153fb21547cca716cb&amp;id=6a65daf72b" class="validate" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" method="post" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" novalidate="" target="_blank"><div id="mc_embed_signup_scroll"><h2>Subscribe to our mailing list</h2><div class="indicates-required"><span class="asterisk">*</span> indicates required</div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-EMAIL">Email Address <span class="asterisk">*</span></label> <input class="required email" id="mce-EMAIL" name="EMAIL" type="email" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group input-group"><strong>Email Format </strong> <br /><ul><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-0" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="html" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-0">html</label></li><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-1" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="text" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-1">text</label></li></ul></div><div class="clear" id="mce-responses"><div class="response" id="mce-error-response" style="display: none;"></div><div class="response" id="mce-success-response" style="display: none;"></div></div><!-- real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups--> <br /><div aria-hidden="true" style="left: -5000px; position: absolute;"><input name="b_186b802153fb21547cca716cb_6a65daf72b" tabindex="-1" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="clear"><input class="button" id="mc-embedded-subscribe" name="subscribe" type="submit" value="Subscribe" /></div></div></form></div><script src="//s3.amazonaws.com/downloads.mailchimp.com/js/mc-validate.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script type="text/javascript">(function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true);</script><!--End mc_embed_signup-->Leah Clearyhttps://plus.google.com/112034139671515193206noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490708975258688106.post-4971430086344162082017-01-19T17:59:00.002-08:002017-02-02T09:24:55.378-08:00We Hold These Truths: Three Reasons We Can Be Hopeful<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qBdJgUJYzYo/WIFqPxw5bGI/AAAAAAAACp4/yD9oDsosDn00p4_-GsjzqcTkvQMyQTjbACLcB/s1600/Long%2BTemplate.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="On January 20th, 2017, a new president, who was freely elected, was inaugurated into his new office. While concerns abound about his political stances and his rhetoric, the fact remains that he is inheriting a stable country. We can be hopeful for what lies ahead, and we can teach our students that hope, too. I, along with many other TpT sellers, have contributed a free resource for the movements of #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths. Learn about my freebie, and see what others have created." border="0" data-pin-description="On January 20th, 2017, a new president, who was freely elected, was inaugurated into his new office. While concerns abound about his political stances and his rhetoric, the fact remains that he is inheriting a stable country. We can be hopeful for what lies ahead, and we can teach our students that hope, too. I, along with many other TpT sellers, have contributed a free resource for the movements of #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths. Learn about my freebie, and see what others have created." height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qBdJgUJYzYo/WIFqPxw5bGI/AAAAAAAACp4/yD9oDsosDn00p4_-GsjzqcTkvQMyQTjbACLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" title="On January 20th, 2017, a new president, who was freely elected, was inaugurated into his new office. While concerns abound about his political stances and his rhetoric, the fact remains that he is inheriting a stable country. We can be hopeful for what lies ahead, and we can teach our students that hope, too. I, along with many other TpT sellers, have contributed a free resource for the movements of #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths. Learn about my freebie, and see what others have created." width="208" /></a>The 2016 election season was divisive. Disagreement is healthy in a democracy--it keeps us on our toes. But demonizing people whose opinions differ from our own is counter-productive. We should attempt to understand and learn from each other. I wrote about discussing the election results with our students <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/11/discussing-election-results-with-our.html" target="_blank">HERE</a></b>.<br /><br />To loosely quote President Obama in his farewell address, compromise is vital to our democracy.<br /><br />In his farewell address, President Washington famously warned against the divisiveness political parties would bring.<br /><br />The younger President Bush was hopeful for the future in his farewell address.<br /><br />I want to discuss three reasons that we should be hopeful going forward. At the end of this post, I want to tell you about a TON of free resources that will help you communicate that hopefulness to your students.<br /><h3>Three Reasons We Should Be Hopeful Going Forward:</h3><h3>1. We Are Diverse</h3>What do Albert Einstein, Natalie Portman, Ayn Rand, Andrew Carnegie, Van Morrison, Bob Marley, Joseph Pulitzer, Madeleine Albright, Irving Berlin, Eddie Van Halen, Isabelle Allende, Liz Claiborne, Bob Hope, Henry Kissinger, Sammy Sosa, Frank Capra, Charlie Chaplin, Iman, and Maria Sharapova all have in common?<br /><br />They have all enriched American culture and politics.<br /><br />And they are all immigrants.<br /><br />Fresh perspectives and diversity are part of what makes this nation great. We should never forget that, because to lose it would be a great tragedy.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-64sXGN2XVt0/WIFSSczht_I/AAAAAAAACoY/iwkj5vgws_kuAxRlWj-9Xb2AZyzvX0LHwCLcB/s1600/Picture1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="On January 20th, 2017, a new president, who was freely elected, was inaugurated into his new office. While concerns abound about his political stances and his rhetoric, the fact remains that he is inheriting a stable country. We can be hopeful for what lies ahead, and we can teach our students that hope, too. I, along with many other TpT sellers, have contributed a free resource for the movements of #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths. Learn about my freebie, and see what others have created." border="0" data-pin-description="On January 20th, 2017, a new president, who was freely elected, was inaugurated into his new office. While concerns abound about his political stances and his rhetoric, the fact remains that he is inheriting a stable country. We can be hopeful for what lies ahead, and we can teach our students that hope, too. I, along with many other TpT sellers, have contributed a free resource for the movements of #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths. Learn about my freebie, and see what others have created." height="293" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-64sXGN2XVt0/WIFSSczht_I/AAAAAAAACoY/iwkj5vgws_kuAxRlWj-9Xb2AZyzvX0LHwCLcB/s400/Picture1.png" title="On January 20th, 2017, a new president, who was freely elected, was inaugurated into his new office. While concerns abound about his political stances and his rhetoric, the fact remains that he is inheriting a stable country. We can be hopeful for what lies ahead, and we can teach our students that hope, too. I, along with many other TpT sellers, have contributed a free resource for the movements of #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths. Learn about my freebie, and see what others have created." width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">2. We Are Fair</h3><div>Or we try to be. Part of being fair is to try to understand different perspectives. Like it or not, we will have a new president on January 20, 2017, and he was fairly and freely elected.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, he didn't win the popular vote, but the Electoral College is not new. We the people are (or should be) familiar with its function. We can't do away with it legally after the fact and expect a post hoc change.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>It is our obligation as citizens to allow for the peaceful transition of power, hope for the best, and if we don't like the outcome, to protest with our vote.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CRXhO5YspWs/WIFVsMC9R9I/AAAAAAAACoo/6KORrwL6gGEEyDsz4Z3Vu5x7X5GLUGg_ACLcB/s1600/Picture2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="On January 20th, 2017, a new president, who was freely elected, was inaugurated into his new office. While concerns abound about his political stances and his rhetoric, the fact remains that he is inheriting a stable country. We can be hopeful for what lies ahead, and we can teach our students that hope, too. I, along with many other TpT sellers, have contributed a free resource for the movements of #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths. Learn about my freebie, and see what others have created." border="0" data-pin-description="On January 20th, 2017, a new president, who was freely elected, was inaugurated into his new office. While concerns abound about his political stances and his rhetoric, the fact remains that he is inheriting a stable country. We can be hopeful for what lies ahead, and we can teach our students that hope, too. I, along with many other TpT sellers, have contributed a free resource for the movements of #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths. Learn about my freebie, and see what others have created." height="181" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CRXhO5YspWs/WIFVsMC9R9I/AAAAAAAACoo/6KORrwL6gGEEyDsz4Z3Vu5x7X5GLUGg_ACLcB/s400/Picture2.png" title="On January 20th, 2017, a new president, who was freely elected, was inaugurated into his new office. While concerns abound about his political stances and his rhetoric, the fact remains that he is inheriting a stable country. We can be hopeful for what lies ahead, and we can teach our students that hope, too. I, along with many other TpT sellers, have contributed a free resource for the movements of #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths. Learn about my freebie, and see what others have created." width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><h3>3. We, The People, Are The Government</h3><div>If we are kind, if we are strong, if we are creative, if we are citizens, then we need not fear for the state of our Union. I've heard hyperbolic comparisons of Donald Trump to fascist dictators of the past. And, yes, his own hyperbole and divisiveness lends credence to that argument.</div><div><br /></div><div>But the past doesn't ever repeat itself (ask Mark Twain if you don't believe me--it just rhymes). SO we may hear echos of Hitler's promise to make Germany a great nation again or to blame a particular group for all our country's woes in Trump's rhetoric.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>But the situation of the United States that Trump has inherited is far different from the the unstable situation of Weimar Germany. The Weimar Republic was new, shaky, weak, and untested. Our Constitution has stood the test of time. Our system is stable.</div><div><br /></div><div>That's not to say that we shouldn't guard it. We should. And if we participate in the political process, we do.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LSVTUPmIlN4/WIFZWd2P3gI/AAAAAAAACo0/YSZbjGcIKKEKEwSZ8QAZh8Xp6Wx7UQncgCLcB/s1600/Picture3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="On January 20th, 2017, a new president, who was freely elected, was inaugurated into his new office. While concerns abound about his political stances and his rhetoric, the fact remains that he is inheriting a stable country. We can be hopeful for what lies ahead, and we can teach our students that hope, too. I, along with many other TpT sellers, have contributed a free resource for the movements of #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths. Learn about my freebie, and see what others have created." border="0" data-pin-description="On January 20th, 2017, a new president, who was freely elected, was inaugurated into his new office. While concerns abound about his political stances and his rhetoric, the fact remains that he is inheriting a stable country. We can be hopeful for what lies ahead, and we can teach our students that hope, too. I, along with many other TpT sellers, have contributed a free resource for the movements of #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths. Learn about my freebie, and see what others have created." height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LSVTUPmIlN4/WIFZWd2P3gI/AAAAAAAACo0/YSZbjGcIKKEKEwSZ8QAZh8Xp6Wx7UQncgCLcB/s400/Picture3.png" title="On January 20th, 2017, a new president, who was freely elected, was inaugurated into his new office. While concerns abound about his political stances and his rhetoric, the fact remains that he is inheriting a stable country. We can be hopeful for what lies ahead, and we can teach our students that hope, too. I, along with many other TpT sellers, have contributed a free resource for the movements of #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths. Learn about my freebie, and see what others have created." width="315" /></a></div><br /><br />I believe that the majority of us hold these truths near and dear to our hearts. I believe in the power of the people and our ultimate desire for kindness and fairness.<br /><br />I believe, not in telling my students what to believe, but in educating them about their responsibilities as citizens of this nation that I am proud to call my own.<br /><br />Many other teachers share these values, and we have posted free products all across Teachers Pay Teachers that will help teachers educate students on principles of citizenship and kindness. Go to Teachers Pay Teachers and enter the hashtags #weholdthesetruths and/or #kindnessnation in the search engine. You will find many free resources ready to use in your classroom.<br /><br /><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PLPElnw7Woo/WIFe7hEzKnI/AAAAAAAACpI/ZH4oYxTdVW4PpICGWP8za71L5FqDa2JwACLcB/s1600/Slide4.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="On January 20th, 2017, a new president, who was freely elected, was inaugurated into his new office. While concerns abound about his political stances and his rhetoric, the fact remains that he is inheriting a stable country. We can be hopeful for what lies ahead, and we can teach our students that hope, too. I, along with many other TpT sellers, have contributed a free resource for the movements of #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths. Learn about my freebie, and see what others have created." border="0" data-pin-description="On January 20th, 2017, a new president, who was freely elected, was inaugurated into his new office. While concerns abound about his political stances and his rhetoric, the fact remains that he is inheriting a stable country. We can be hopeful for what lies ahead, and we can teach our students that hope, too. I, along with many other TpT sellers, have contributed a free resource for the movements of #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths. Learn about my freebie, and see what others have created." height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PLPElnw7Woo/WIFe7hEzKnI/AAAAAAAACpI/ZH4oYxTdVW4PpICGWP8za71L5FqDa2JwACLcB/s200/Slide4.PNG" title="On January 20th, 2017, a new president, who was freely elected, was inaugurated into his new office. While concerns abound about his political stances and his rhetoric, the fact remains that he is inheriting a stable country. We can be hopeful for what lies ahead, and we can teach our students that hope, too. I, along with many other TpT sellers, have contributed a free resource for the movements of #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths. Learn about my freebie, and see what others have created." width="154" /></a><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h8RpaZdCH-0/WIFe50kuZ-I/AAAAAAAACpE/jWYwM7KacGgiZuDI3nVBU9e25bQbah0zgCLcB/s1600/Slide3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="On January 20th, 2017, a new president, who was freely elected, was inaugurated into his new office. While concerns abound about his political stances and his rhetoric, the fact remains that he is inheriting a stable country. We can be hopeful for what lies ahead, and we can teach our students that hope, too. I, along with many other TpT sellers, have contributed a free resource for the movements of #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths. Learn about my freebie, and see what others have created." border="0" data-pin-description="On January 20th, 2017, a new president, who was freely elected, was inaugurated into his new office. While concerns abound about his political stances and his rhetoric, the fact remains that he is inheriting a stable country. We can be hopeful for what lies ahead, and we can teach our students that hope, too. I, along with many other TpT sellers, have contributed a free resource for the movements of #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths. Learn about my freebie, and see what others have created." height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h8RpaZdCH-0/WIFe50kuZ-I/AAAAAAAACpE/jWYwM7KacGgiZuDI3nVBU9e25bQbah0zgCLcB/s200/Slide3.PNG" title="On January 20th, 2017, a new president, who was freely elected, was inaugurated into his new office. While concerns abound about his political stances and his rhetoric, the fact remains that he is inheriting a stable country. We can be hopeful for what lies ahead, and we can teach our students that hope, too. I, along with many other TpT sellers, have contributed a free resource for the movements of #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths. Learn about my freebie, and see what others have created." width="154" /></a>My free resource is a Color-Fill Film Guide for President Obama's Farewell Address. It asks students to view and consider important points of President Obama's farewell address and then to look at the history of the presidential farewell address. This will demonstrate to students that the presidency is an enduring office and that the end of our democratic-republic is surely not imminent because of one man or one event.<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Obamas-Farewell-Address-Color-Fill-Film-Guide-2961240" target="_blank"><img alt="On January 20th, 2017, a new president, who was freely elected, was inaugurated into his new office. While concerns abound about his political stances and his rhetoric, the fact remains that he is inheriting a stable country. We can be hopeful for what lies ahead, and we can teach our students that hope, too. I, along with many other TpT sellers, have contributed a free resource for the movements of #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths. Learn about my freebie, and see what others have created." border="0" data-pin-description="On January 20th, 2017, a new president, who was freely elected, was inaugurated into his new office. While concerns abound about his political stances and his rhetoric, the fact remains that he is inheriting a stable country. We can be hopeful for what lies ahead, and we can teach our students that hope, too. I, along with many other TpT sellers, have contributed a free resource for the movements of #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths. Learn about my freebie, and see what others have created." height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yuvlsfI38VQ/WIFfRB9osxI/AAAAAAAACpU/t4YkG9F9rkAPiHa6RhmsqSgZknSq5u4FgCLcB/s320/Slide6.PNG" title="On January 20th, 2017, a new president, who was freely elected, was inaugurated into his new office. While concerns abound about his political stances and his rhetoric, the fact remains that he is inheriting a stable country. We can be hopeful for what lies ahead, and we can teach our students that hope, too. I, along with many other TpT sellers, have contributed a free resource for the movements of #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths. Learn about my freebie, and see what others have created." width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Obamas-Farewell-Address-Color-Fill-Film-Guide-2961240" target="_blank">Grab it HERE!</a></b></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Leah-Cleary" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="On January 20th, 2017, a new president, who was freely elected, was inaugurated into his new office. While concerns abound about his political stances and his rhetoric, the fact remains that he is inheriting a stable country. We can be hopeful for what lies ahead, and we can teach our students that hope, too. I, along with many other TpT sellers, have contributed a free resource for the movements of #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths. Learn about my freebie, and see what others have created." border="0" data-pin-description="On January 20th, 2017, a new president, who was freely elected, was inaugurated into his new office. While concerns abound about his political stances and his rhetoric, the fact remains that he is inheriting a stable country. We can be hopeful for what lies ahead, and we can teach our students that hope, too. I, along with many other TpT sellers, have contributed a free resource for the movements of #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths. Learn about my freebie, and see what others have created." height="216" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gvnage16ZxA/WIFiwcaCV8I/AAAAAAAACpo/y7cbVtSHLT0vwnbOQpBkXt6XjSGtxHVuQCLcB/s320/Picture4.png" title="On January 20th, 2017, a new president, who was freely elected, was inaugurated into his new office. While concerns abound about his political stances and his rhetoric, the fact remains that he is inheriting a stable country. We can be hopeful for what lies ahead, and we can teach our students that hope, too. I, along with many other TpT sellers, have contributed a free resource for the movements of #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths. Learn about my freebie, and see what others have created." width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />And be sure to click on all of the links below to grab other secondary teachers' free resources and to read their posts.<br /><br />Thanks so much to <a href="http://desktoplearningadventures.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Desktop Learning Adventures</a> and <a href="http://www.elabuffet.com/" target="_blank">ELA Buffet</a> for organizing this blog hop.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><!-- start InLinkz script --> <br /><div class="InLinkzContainer" id="689115"><a href="http://www.inlinkz.com/new/view.php?id=689115" rel="nofollow" title="click to view in an external page.">An InLinkz Link-up</a></div><script src="https://static.inlinkz.com/cs2.js" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- end InLinkz script --><img src="http://www.crayonboxlearning.com/images/leah-signature.png" style="background: transparent; border: none;" /> <br /><br /><!-- Begin MailChimp Signup Form --><link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-10_7.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><style type="text/css"> #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ </style><br /><div id="mc_embed_signup"><form action="//blogspot.us10.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=186b802153fb21547cca716cb&amp;id=6a65daf72b" class="validate" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" method="post" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" novalidate="" target="_blank"><div id="mc_embed_signup_scroll"><h2>Subscribe to our mailing list</h2><div class="indicates-required"><span class="asterisk">*</span> indicates required</div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-EMAIL">Email Address <span class="asterisk">*</span></label> <input class="required email" id="mce-EMAIL" name="EMAIL" type="email" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group input-group"><strong>Email Format </strong> <br /><ul><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-0" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="html" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-0">html</label></li><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-1" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="text" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-1">text</label></li></ul></div><div class="clear" id="mce-responses"><div class="response" id="mce-error-response" style="display: none;"></div><div class="response" id="mce-success-response" style="display: none;"></div></div><!-- real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups--> <br /><div aria-hidden="true" style="left: -5000px; position: absolute;"><input name="b_186b802153fb21547cca716cb_6a65daf72b" tabindex="-1" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="clear"><input class="button" id="mc-embedded-subscribe" name="subscribe" type="submit" value="Subscribe" /></div></div></form></div><script src="//s3.amazonaws.com/downloads.mailchimp.com/js/mc-validate.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script type="text/javascript">(function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true);</script><!--End mc_embed_signup-->Leah Clearyhttps://plus.google.com/112034139671515193206noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490708975258688106.post-3071429536473050832017-01-10T16:49:00.003-08:002017-01-18T11:43:30.401-08:00Using Google Forms to Create Self-Grading Quizzes<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-asuUIB14Sgo/WHV6Ae_e4nI/AAAAAAAACoE/AUshz4oU1dwNSObGevXdbOTl4kgrynywACLcB/s1600/Long%2BTemplate.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Google Forms now has a self-grading quiz feature! When I wrote about Google Forms in the past, you needed to have an add-on in order to make your quizzes in Google Classroom self-grading. However, Google Forms has updated since then, and now you can make your quizzes self-grading. In this blog post, I walk you through a step-by-step tutorial of how to set this up in your own Google Classroom!" border="0" data-pin-description="Google Forms now has a self-grading quiz feature! When I wrote about Google Forms in the past, you needed to have an add-on in order to make your quizzes in Google Classroom self-grading. However, Google Forms has updated since then, and now you can make your quizzes self-grading. In this blog post, I walk you through a step-by-step tutorial of how to set this up in your own Google Classroom!" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-asuUIB14Sgo/WHV6Ae_e4nI/AAAAAAAACoE/AUshz4oU1dwNSObGevXdbOTl4kgrynywACLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" title="Google Forms now has a self-grading quiz feature! When I wrote about Google Forms in the past, you needed to have an add-on in order to make your quizzes in Google Classroom self-grading. However, Google Forms has updated since then, and now you can make your quizzes self-grading. In this blog post, I walk you through a step-by-step tutorial of how to set this up in your own Google Classroom!" width="208" /></a>I've discussed ways to use Google Forms in the classroom in these blog posts: <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/06/11-ready-inserting-images-and-films.html" target="_blank">Inserting Images and Films</a></b>&nbsp;and <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/05/google-classroom-hack-3-formative.html?m=1" target="_blank">Formative Assessment</a></b>. The <b><a href="http://www.tools4teachingteens.com/video-blog/google-forms-add-images-film-clips-and-flubaroo" target="_blank">video post</a></b> sums it all up! But when I discussed Forms last, you needed an add-on to make them self-grading.<br /><br />I LOVE forms because there are so many things you can do with them beyond just tests. Here are two suggestions:<br /><br />1. Exit Quizzes: Create an exit quiz with a few very important concepts from the day's lesson. Then you will know immediately what you need to review the next day or how to flex group.<br /><br />2. Games: Create a simple review. Pair or group students off. The first group that finishes first with the most correct answers wins! <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/06/11-ready-inserting-images-and-films.html" target="_blank">Add video and images</a></b> to make it more engaging.<br /><br />Google has since made things much simpler with it's "quiz" setting. Here's how it works:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H5nb7jChKYM/WHVwZ3XUFiI/AAAAAAAACns/LRMfKS9-f4cqf1RYJ9QpFuedDIqpuVLcQCLcB/s1600/Slide1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Google Forms now has a self-grading quiz feature! When I wrote about Google Forms in the past, you needed to have an add-on in order to make your quizzes in Google Classroom self-grading. However, Google Forms has updated since then, and now you can make your quizzes self-grading. In this blog post, I walk you through a step-by-step tutorial of how to set this up in your own Google Classroom!" border="0" height="494" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H5nb7jChKYM/WHVwZ3XUFiI/AAAAAAAACns/LRMfKS9-f4cqf1RYJ9QpFuedDIqpuVLcQCLcB/s640/Slide1.PNG" title="Google Forms now has a self-grading quiz feature! When I wrote about Google Forms in the past, you needed to have an add-on in order to make your quizzes in Google Classroom self-grading. However, Google Forms has updated since then, and now you can make your quizzes self-grading. In this blog post, I walk you through a step-by-step tutorial of how to set this up in your own Google Classroom!" width="640" data-pin-description="Google Forms now has a self-grading quiz feature! When I wrote about Google Forms in the past, you needed to have an add-on in order to make your quizzes in Google Classroom self-grading. However, Google Forms has updated since then, and now you can make your quizzes self-grading. In this blog post, I walk you through a step-by-step tutorial of how to set this up in your own Google Classroom!" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FoMDo0WDo3o/WHVwheDJl-I/AAAAAAAACnw/w9yJl24TmdAT2blOgcxy1IMY2utJ13TNQCLcB/s1600/Slide2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Google Forms now has a self-grading quiz feature! When I wrote about Google Forms in the past, you needed to have an add-on in order to make your quizzes in Google Classroom self-grading. However, Google Forms has updated since then, and now you can make your quizzes self-grading. In this blog post, I walk you through a step-by-step tutorial of how to set this up in your own Google Classroom!" border="0" height="494" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FoMDo0WDo3o/WHVwheDJl-I/AAAAAAAACnw/w9yJl24TmdAT2blOgcxy1IMY2utJ13TNQCLcB/s640/Slide2.PNG" title="Google Forms now has a self-grading quiz feature! When I wrote about Google Forms in the past, you needed to have an add-on in order to make your quizzes in Google Classroom self-grading. However, Google Forms has updated since then, and now you can make your quizzes self-grading. In this blog post, I walk you through a step-by-step tutorial of how to set this up in your own Google Classroom!" width="640" data-pin-description="Google Forms now has a self-grading quiz feature! When I wrote about Google Forms in the past, you needed to have an add-on in order to make your quizzes in Google Classroom self-grading. However, Google Forms has updated since then, and now you can make your quizzes self-grading. In this blog post, I walk you through a step-by-step tutorial of how to set this up in your own Google Classroom!" /></a></div>Print the cheat sheet <b><a href="http://bit.ly/2jspMv9" target="_blank">HERE</a></b>.<br /><br />What are some unique ways you use Forms in your classroom? Leave a comment below, and let me know!<br /><img src="http://www.crayonboxlearning.com/images/leah-signature.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: none;" /><!-- Begin MailChimp Signup Form --><link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-10_7.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><style type="text/css"> #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ </style><br /><div id="mc_embed_signup"><form action="//blogspot.us10.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=186b802153fb21547cca716cb&amp;id=6a65daf72b" class="validate" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" method="post" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" novalidate="" target="_blank"><div id="mc_embed_signup_scroll"><h2>Subscribe to our mailing list</h2><div class="indicates-required"><span class="asterisk">*</span> indicates required</div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-EMAIL">Email Address <span class="asterisk">*</span></label> <input class="required email" id="mce-EMAIL" name="EMAIL" type="email" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group input-group"><strong>Email Format </strong> <br /><ul><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-0" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="html" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-0">html</label></li><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-1" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="text" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-1">text</label></li></ul></div><div class="clear" id="mce-responses"><div class="response" id="mce-error-response" style="display: none;"></div><div class="response" id="mce-success-response" style="display: none;"></div></div><!-- real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups--> <br /><div aria-hidden="true" style="left: -5000px; position: absolute;"><input name="b_186b802153fb21547cca716cb_6a65daf72b" tabindex="-1" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="clear"><input class="button" id="mc-embedded-subscribe" name="subscribe" type="submit" value="Subscribe" /></div></div></form></div><script src="//s3.amazonaws.com/downloads.mailchimp.com/js/mc-validate.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script type="text/javascript">(function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true);</script><!--End mc_embed_signup-->Leah Clearyhttps://plus.google.com/112034139671515193206noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490708975258688106.post-78515775078551388262016-12-31T16:00:00.002-08:002017-02-02T09:27:01.075-08:00My 2017 Classroom Resolutions<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9lthMLAN9G8/WGhEaeN1C5I/AAAAAAAACnU/9mgaFOtA9H0E02uG4q96lfdJq7jsjZnVQCLcB/s1600/Long%2BTemplate.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="New years resolutions are a tricky thing, and a lot of people seem to accidentally set themselves up for failure when setting them. I think my resolutions for 2016 were too specific, and I ended up not meeting them, and then I felt bad about it. So, as we step forward into 2017, I've decided to make my resolutions a little less specific. However, I'm still setting myself up for success with different parameters and tools that will help me become a better teacher for my students. Happy 2017!" border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9lthMLAN9G8/WGhEaeN1C5I/AAAAAAAACnU/9mgaFOtA9H0E02uG4q96lfdJq7jsjZnVQCLcB/s400/Long%2BTemplate.png" title="New years resolutions are a tricky thing, and a lot of people seem to accidentally set themselves up for failure when setting them. I think my resolutions for 2016 were too specific, and I ended up not meeting them, and then I felt bad about it. So, as we step forward into 2017, I've decided to make my resolutions a little less specific. However, I'm still setting myself up for success with different parameters and tools that will help me become a better teacher for my students. Happy 2017!" width="260" data-pin-description="New years resolutions are a tricky thing, and a lot of people seem to accidentally set themselves up for failure when setting them. I think my resolutions for 2016 were too specific, and I ended up not meeting them, and then I felt bad about it. So, as we step forward into 2017, I've decided to make my resolutions a little less specific. However, I'm still setting myself up for success with different parameters and tools that will help me become a better teacher for my students. Happy 2017!" /></a>Resolutions are made to be broken. I was supposed to drop ten pounds in 2016, but instead, I found room for ten more. I began 2016 volunteering more of my time, but that soon gave way to chauffeuring my son to tutoring. I wanted to spend more time with the fam, but my nieces keep getting older and we never got around to our girls' weekend of pizza and anime.<br /><br />So what is it about resolutions that makes them impossible to keep? Life is messy. Too messy to plan specifically. The unexpected comes up and its urgency tramples the best laid plans.<br /><br />Maybe my resolutions were too specific. Maybe they need to be more general so that I can find a way to success. Instead of "lose ten pounds," I'll try "be more active." Instead of "volunteer once a week," I'll try "be more generous with my time when I can." Instead of "have a girls' weekend" with two hopelessly busy teenagers, I'll try "spend more quality time with family."<br /><br />But how can this apply to my classroom? I know I need to do a better job on several fronts. I know I need to be more organized, do better at differentiation, do a better job at connecting with my students and their parents, so how can I make these things work? I don't want to give up on resolutions, but I don't want to set myself up for failure, either.<br /><br />I have a broad plan this year to set myself up for success.<br /><h3>Here's how I'll approach organization:</h3><div>Very simply put, this year, I intend to embrace my lack of it. I won't waste hours filing and labeling, and working against my nature to make everything look pretty. That takes too much time away from the things that truly matter, like planning and making connections. And it's a losing battle for me.</div><div><br /></div><div>I will stop apologizing for my messy desk. I know where everything is, and it works for me, so I'm going with it. I will keep the piles on my desk. I just need to remember to recycle the things at the bottom of the piles periodically. If they're at the bottom, I probably don't use them.</div><div><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Re5XHeFI21E/WGf3WP2lmyI/AAAAAAAACmk/wyTQVEkM1jYIoftSVgBXS1mz0XhJm7P0wCLcB/s1600/Picture1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="New years resolutions are a tricky thing, and a lot of people seem to accidentally set themselves up for failure when setting them. I think my resolutions for 2016 were too specific, and I ended up not meeting them, and then I felt bad about it. So, as we step forward into 2017, I've decided to make my resolutions a little less specific. However, I'm still setting myself up for success with different parameters and tools that will help me become a better teacher for my students. Happy 2017!" border="0" height="207" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Re5XHeFI21E/WGf3WP2lmyI/AAAAAAAACmk/wyTQVEkM1jYIoftSVgBXS1mz0XhJm7P0wCLcB/s320/Picture1.jpg" title="New years resolutions are a tricky thing, and a lot of people seem to accidentally set themselves up for failure when setting them. I think my resolutions for 2016 were too specific, and I ended up not meeting them, and then I felt bad about it. So, as we step forward into 2017, I've decided to make my resolutions a little less specific. However, I'm still setting myself up for success with different parameters and tools that will help me become a better teacher for my students. Happy 2017!" width="320" data-pin-description="New years resolutions are a tricky thing, and a lot of people seem to accidentally set themselves up for failure when setting them. I think my resolutions for 2016 were too specific, and I ended up not meeting them, and then I felt bad about it. So, as we step forward into 2017, I've decided to make my resolutions a little less specific. However, I'm still setting myself up for success with different parameters and tools that will help me become a better teacher for my students. Happy 2017!" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sociology students "making a mess" with <b><a href="http://bit.ly/2iR0FWz" target="_blank">The Looking Glass Self Lesson</a></b></td></tr></tbody></table><div>I've found that generally my best lessons that engage the students most are the messiest. I will not apologize for being messy in 2017.</div><div><br /></div><div>I just finished reading a book that I got for Christmas that beautifully demonstrates the normalcy of messes--<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Messy-Power-Disorder-Transform-Lives/dp/1594634793" target="_blank">Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives by Tim Harford</a>. I will re-read it at midyear.</div><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z27ZGhPG2bw/WGf3lDlM9YI/AAAAAAAACmo/pTCK88aEIukUSuBg9ACRbb3SbwxQRYEIQCLcB/s1600/Picture2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="New years resolutions are a tricky thing, and a lot of people seem to accidentally set themselves up for failure when setting them. I think my resolutions for 2016 were too specific, and I ended up not meeting them, and then I felt bad about it. So, as we step forward into 2017, I've decided to make my resolutions a little less specific. However, I'm still setting myself up for success with different parameters and tools that will help me become a better teacher for my students. Happy 2017!" border="0" height="142" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z27ZGhPG2bw/WGf3lDlM9YI/AAAAAAAACmo/pTCK88aEIukUSuBg9ACRbb3SbwxQRYEIQCLcB/s320/Picture2.jpg" title="New years resolutions are a tricky thing, and a lot of people seem to accidentally set themselves up for failure when setting them. I think my resolutions for 2016 were too specific, and I ended up not meeting them, and then I felt bad about it. So, as we step forward into 2017, I've decided to make my resolutions a little less specific. However, I'm still setting myself up for success with different parameters and tools that will help me become a better teacher for my students. Happy 2017!" width="320" data-pin-description="New years resolutions are a tricky thing, and a lot of people seem to accidentally set themselves up for failure when setting them. I think my resolutions for 2016 were too specific, and I ended up not meeting them, and then I felt bad about it. So, as we step forward into 2017, I've decided to make my resolutions a little less specific. However, I'm still setting myself up for success with different parameters and tools that will help me become a better teacher for my students. Happy 2017!" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Psychology students out of control making <b><a href="http://bit.ly/2ijt5XX" target="_blank">Learning Style Videos</a></b></td></tr></tbody></table><h3>Here's how I'll approach differentiation:</h3><div>Differentiation is so important, and in the age of technology, it's easier to implement than ever. Exit tickets are a quick way to do it and so is the exit quiz.</div><div><br /></div><div>All I need to do is assign an exit ticket or quiz the last five minutes of class to see what I might need to reteach to whom--easy, right?&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, yes and no. My issues tend to go back to organization (and my struggles with it). In this case, it's time management. I'll have the exit tickets ready to go, but then the bell sneaks up on me.</div><div><br /></div><div>My resolution is to time each activity. I always plan to, but then I get distracted. I will keep <b><a href="http://www.online-stopwatch.com/classroom-timers/" target="_blank">this timer site </a></b>bookmarked so that it is super easy for me to say, " Okay, you have 15 minutes to work on this, and then we're moving on." There are all types of fun timers to choose from--hourglass, bomb, rocket....</div><div><br /></div><div>Google Forms now has a self grading quiz option (not the old add-on Flubaroo) that gives students instant feedback. I will use these for those five minute exit quizzes to see if students understand the crux of the lesson. I'll put a tutorial up on how to do this next week--it's super easy if you don't already know.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>I also organized my&nbsp;<b><a href="http://bit.ly/2agDJaz" target="_blank">digital exit tickets</a></b>&nbsp;into single slides so that it's effortless to assign one at a time. I can just make a copy and assign it without having to delete all of the slides I'm not using.</div></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PygZZpSzLbs/WGgtnzXYmjI/AAAAAAAACm4/XHxkdvO9m9McZptBtNH546jypE_14eLogCLcB/s1600/Picture3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="New years resolutions are a tricky thing, and a lot of people seem to accidentally set themselves up for failure when setting them. I think my resolutions for 2016 were too specific, and I ended up not meeting them, and then I felt bad about it. So, as we step forward into 2017, I've decided to make my resolutions a little less specific. However, I'm still setting myself up for success with different parameters and tools that will help me become a better teacher for my students. Happy 2017!" border="0" height="564" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PygZZpSzLbs/WGgtnzXYmjI/AAAAAAAACm4/XHxkdvO9m9McZptBtNH546jypE_14eLogCLcB/s640/Picture3.png" title="New years resolutions are a tricky thing, and a lot of people seem to accidentally set themselves up for failure when setting them. I think my resolutions for 2016 were too specific, and I ended up not meeting them, and then I felt bad about it. So, as we step forward into 2017, I've decided to make my resolutions a little less specific. However, I'm still setting myself up for success with different parameters and tools that will help me become a better teacher for my students. Happy 2017!" width="640" data-pin-description="New years resolutions are a tricky thing, and a lot of people seem to accidentally set themselves up for failure when setting them. I think my resolutions for 2016 were too specific, and I ended up not meeting them, and then I felt bad about it. So, as we step forward into 2017, I've decided to make my resolutions a little less specific. However, I'm still setting myself up for success with different parameters and tools that will help me become a better teacher for my students. Happy 2017!" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can find the pre-made Digital Exit Tickets <b><a href="http://i%20also%20organized%20my%20digital%20exit%20tickets%20into%20single%20slides%20so%20that%20it%27s%20super%20easy%20to%20assign%20one%20at%20a%20time.%20i%20can%20just%20make%20a%20copy%20and%20assign%20it%20without%20having%20to%20delete%20all%20of%20the%20slides%20i%27m%20not%20using./" target="_blank">HERE</a></b>.</td></tr></tbody></table><h3>Here's how I'll do a better job connecting with my students and their parents:</h3><div>I always fall into the same trap each year--calling only when there's a problem. My goal this year is to connect with parents each week for positive feedback (notice I'm not giving an exact number, that way, if it's a busy week and I've only made contact with one or two parents, I haven't failed).</div><div><br /></div><div>I also want to continue my efforts to center aspects of lessons around student's interests (I talked about that <b><a href="http://bit.ly/2iiBBEz" target="_blank">HERE</a></b>) and to really listen to them and foster positive discussions.&nbsp;</div><h3>Oh yeah--let's not forget to have fun in 2017!</h3><div>Because we do have a fun job, and it's easy to forget.</div><div><br /></div><div>So I want to close this post by talking about a really fun, extemporaneous thing that went on in my classroom in 2016. One of my students got a teddy bear from his girlfriend on Valentine's Day. He had it in class, and it was causing quite the disruption, so I confiscated it.</div><div><br /></div><div>The bell rang, and I realized that I still had his bear. I meant to give it back to him at the end of class but forgot.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was my planning block, and I had tons of stuff to do, but instead I took the bear up and down my hallway. I teach on the social studies/ foreign language floor, so teachers have a ton of props. I went from room to room, photographing the bear with different props. I made memes about them.</div><div><br /></div><div>The next day, my student entered class and asked for his bear. I told him I wasn't sure where the bear went, but that I kept getting these crazy postcards from him. I pointed to the screen at the front of my room, and there was one of the memes projected. He laughed and sat down.</div><div><br /></div><div>Everyday, he came in and asked about his bear, I pointed to the screen. Finally, when I ran out of memes, I gave him his bear, saying that he had turned back up. Check out the slideshow of Mr. Bear's Adventures below. PLEASE IGNORE THE MESS!!! I know it's Lewis and Clark....</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzVQD0k6Jqkw_B_yqJU9ychmoCG1jCIX1_ewcSO_9dF-TbbAVD-2QGcuUXjh0f2SlWeL8BAaRLaexrlMnUtiw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div>I wish you all a happy, healthy, safe, productive, fun, and messy 2017!<br /><br /><img src="http://www.crayonboxlearning.com/images/leah-signature.png" style="background: transparent; border: none;" /> <!-- Begin MailChimp Signup Form --><link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-10_7.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><style type="text/css"> #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ </style><br /><div id="mc_embed_signup"><form action="//blogspot.us10.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=186b802153fb21547cca716cb&amp;id=6a65daf72b" class="validate" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" method="post" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" novalidate="" target="_blank"><div id="mc_embed_signup_scroll"><h2>Subscribe to our mailing list</h2><div class="indicates-required"><span class="asterisk">*</span> indicates required</div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-EMAIL">Email Address <span class="asterisk">*</span></label> <input class="required email" id="mce-EMAIL" name="EMAIL" type="email" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group input-group"><strong>Email Format </strong> <br /><ul><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-0" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="html" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-0">html</label></li><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-1" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="text" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-1">text</label></li></ul></div><div class="clear" id="mce-responses"><div class="response" id="mce-error-response" style="display: none;"></div><div class="response" id="mce-success-response" style="display: none;"></div></div><!-- real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups--> <br /><div aria-hidden="true" style="left: -5000px; position: absolute;"><input name="b_186b802153fb21547cca716cb_6a65daf72b" tabindex="-1" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="clear"><input class="button" id="mc-embedded-subscribe" name="subscribe" type="submit" value="Subscribe" /></div></div></form></div><script src="//s3.amazonaws.com/downloads.mailchimp.com/js/mc-validate.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script type="text/javascript">(function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true);</script><!--End mc_embed_signup-->Leah Clearyhttps://plus.google.com/112034139671515193206noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490708975258688106.post-12214970672268330902016-12-12T13:49:00.003-08:002017-08-02T13:30:15.381-07:00Approaching World History through Source Analysis and Fiction<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YO8PInRvSVM/WE8W7HNWMMI/AAAAAAAACmA/2f9Vj3cNhIkoab8nhE_j910a8sDwtVINwCLcB/s1600/Cleary_Pinterest.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="World history is my favorite &quot;kid&quot;--my favorite subject to teach. Through primary sources (and secondary sources), as well as through fiction, it can really open students' eyes to the way historians work and to the ways in which history is interpreted--both correctly and incorrectly. I share three ways in which I use sources and fiction to analyze in this post, and I'm confident that your students will have a more solid understanding of world history after trying these activities, too." border="0" data-pin-description="World history is my favorite &quot;kid&quot;--my favorite subject to teach. Through primary sources (and secondary sources), as well as through fiction, it can really open students' eyes to the way historians work and to the ways in which history is interpreted--both correctly and incorrectly. I share three ways in which I use sources and fiction to analyze in this post, and I'm confident that your students will have a more solid understanding of world history after trying these activities, too." height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YO8PInRvSVM/WE8W7HNWMMI/AAAAAAAACmA/2f9Vj3cNhIkoab8nhE_j910a8sDwtVINwCLcB/s400/Cleary_Pinterest.png" title="World history is my favorite &quot;kid&quot;--my favorite subject to teach. Through primary sources (and secondary sources), as well as through fiction, it can really open students' eyes to the way historians work and to the ways in which history is interpreted--both correctly and incorrectly. I share three ways in which I use sources and fiction to analyze in this post, and I'm confident that your students will have a more solid understanding of world history after trying these activities, too." width="260" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This post originally appeared in the <a href="http://classresourcesforteachers.blogspot.com/2015/11/approaching-world-history-through.html" target="_blank">C.L.A.S.S. Newsletter</a> <br />in November of 2015</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">I know we’re not supposed to play favorites with the kids, but I can’t help it. I have six kids, but I most definitely have a favorite. Respectively, my kids are English I, English III, U.S. History, World History, Sociology, and Psychology.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">I love them all, truly I do—I’ve spent so much time with each, reading, planning, and teaching, so they really do all feel like my kids--but if I had to pick one to spend the most time with, it would be world history.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">“Why?” you might ask, especially when they are all wonderful and English was my first.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">Well, I think it may have something to do with what drew me to English in the first place—stories. World history is a bunch of wonderful, disturbing, beautiful, tragic, funny stories. They are stories that explain who and where we are and how we got here. They are stories that connect people in the U.S. to people in Estonia, and people in Nigeria to people in Malaysia.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">Also, history is an art—the art of looking at vast amounts of seemingly unconnected evidence, making sense out of it, and weaving it into a narrative.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><br /><div style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #666666; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I think that is what I truly enjoy doing and encouraging students to do. I love it when they say, “History doesn’t change.” My challenge is to have them question that assumption by the end of the term. I want them to see that when they read a textbook or an online article, they are looking at one person’s (or an editorial board’s) interpretation of evidence.&nbsp; While events and primary sources may not change, interpretations of those events and sources are wide-open to change.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">Keeping that in mind, there are a couple of approaches to teaching world history that I like to take: 1.&nbsp;</span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Primary-Source-Analysis-1391130" href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Primary-Source-Analysis-1391130" style="background-color: white; color: #6ea1bb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">implementing primary and secondary source analysis</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">&nbsp;and 2. bringing short fiction into the curriculum to illustrate points and approaches.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">The first approach is vital to any world history curriculum. The best way to make students aware of the historical process is to have them engage in it. First, students must understand the difference between primary and secondary sources. I give a brief lecture about the difference and then guide students through a process of analyzing a primary source (we do this together).</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">Then, I put students in groups of four and give each group a set of task cards. They have to determine whether the source on each card is primary or secondary and explain why they answered as they did. To take it a step further (and really demonstrate using evidence to draw conclusions), I like to pair students off and give each pair a copy of a receipt. They have to look at the purchases on the receipt and construct a narrative about the person doing the shopping based on the purchases.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">It’s fun to have an actual personality sketch of the person behind the receipt so that students can compare their narrative to the actual person and see how close they came to accuracy.&nbsp; I cinch the lesson by explaining that this is what historians do. They may be right, wrong, or close, but they have to have evidence from primary sources, and their claims should be reasonable based on that evidence, or it is not a reliable source.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">I like to use snippets from various secondary sources, all with differing assertions about the same topic, for students to compare. A topic that fits the world history curriculum and lends itself to differing opinions based on primary source evidence is the</span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Fall-of-Rome-Different-Opinions-from-Secondary-Sources-1445897" href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Fall-of-Rome-Different-Opinions-from-Secondary-Sources-1445897" style="background-color: white; color: #6ea1bb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">&nbsp;fall of Rome</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">. It’s difficult to find two historians who agree as to why it fell, let alone if it fell at all.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">Students need to see that the narratives we hear in history class are conclusions woven from evidence. They should engage in the process so that they can unweave the narratives and see the individual yarns from which they are created. This will make them more discerning in what they accept as fact.</span></span></div><div><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VF2Wy8gDP-A/WE8aXgXkwEI/AAAAAAAACmI/CnaPw5DcS2cHymFEMKJ8c1yy9wjPkDByACEw/s1600/Elements.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="World history is my favorite &quot;kid&quot;--my favorite subject to teach. Through primary sources (and secondary sources), as well as through fiction, it can really open students' eyes to the way historians work and to the ways in which history is interpreted--both correctly and incorrectly. I share three ways in which I use sources and fiction to analyze in this post, and I'm confident that your students will have a more solid understanding of world history after trying these activities, too." border="0" data-pin-description="World history is my favorite &quot;kid&quot;--my favorite subject to teach. Through primary sources (and secondary sources), as well as through fiction, it can really open students' eyes to the way historians work and to the ways in which history is interpreted--both correctly and incorrectly. I share three ways in which I use sources and fiction to analyze in this post, and I'm confident that your students will have a more solid understanding of world history after trying these activities, too." height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VF2Wy8gDP-A/WE8aXgXkwEI/AAAAAAAACmI/CnaPw5DcS2cHymFEMKJ8c1yy9wjPkDByACEw/s320/Elements.png" title="World history is my favorite &quot;kid&quot;--my favorite subject to teach. Through primary sources (and secondary sources), as well as through fiction, it can really open students' eyes to the way historians work and to the ways in which history is interpreted--both correctly and incorrectly. I share three ways in which I use sources and fiction to analyze in this post, and I'm confident that your students will have a more solid understanding of world history after trying these activities, too." width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">The second approach I like to take uses short fiction to illustrate the humanity of the people and cultures we are studying. I knew I wanted to do something along these lines the first time I taught world history. The students couldn’t wait to get to the Holocaust.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">I was perplexed by their excitement over such a horrific subject. “I love the Holocaust,” I heard more than once.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">“Really?” I would say. This troubled me. I thought a lot about it. There are three reasons my somewhat limited mind could fathom that someone would “love” the Holocaust: 1. they are truly depraved, 2. they enjoy the feelings of superiority that “good vs. bad” scenarios give us all (</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">we</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">&nbsp;would never engage in something as horrendous as that—</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">we&nbsp;</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">&nbsp;would help), and 3. they are genuinely missing the human element in this calamity.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">I believe that a very few of the students I have ever taught fall into the first category (although, statistically, some must). So, that leaves the majority falling into categories two and three. “Us against them” is human nature, so category two is understandable. It’s the reason teachers often give for spending so much time on the holocaust, “We do it so that it won’t happen again.” This is noble. After all, Hitler himself remarked, “Who still talks nowadays of the extermination of the Armenians.”</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">But that excuse neglects one important truth—it still happens. Ask the Syrian migrants flooding into Europe. Visit the Sudan. Or just watch&nbsp;</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">Hotel Rwanda</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">. That excuse insults the masses still enduring genocide, and it gives us a false sense of the times in which we live.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">So that leaves us with category three. I think that many of us get swept up in the atrocities and neglect the human element. Actual people were tortured and killed. Actual families were ripped apart. And that is why we study the Holocaust and other such atrocities—to remember and honor the victims.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">I could tell my students this, but I don’t think it would mean much to them. I chose to illustrate the point with a short story instead. Many of us have brought historical fiction into a history class, but I think an effective way to discuss historical themes and approaches can be through short fiction.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">Before beginning a unit on World War II, we discuss nationalism and civil war in China.&nbsp;</span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Chinese-Nationalism-and-Civil-War-Between-the-Wars-Lesson-1883897" href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Chinese-Nationalism-and-Civil-War-Between-the-Wars-Lesson-1883897" style="background-color: white; color: #6ea1bb; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">My lesson</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">&nbsp;on this time period involves a brief PowerPoint with cloze notes, primary source analysis (of course), and an original short story to encourage students to consider appropriate ways to approach a subject that sadly plagues the remainder of the course—genocide.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">It is my goal to humanize these events for the students, not to look at gruesome pictures and tut-tut the actions of the perpetrators, or worse….Fiction delivers lessons that are more palpable than lectures. Often times, students don’t even realize that it is a lesson. Fiction allows students to draw their own conclusions, often through empathy. STEAM in the classroom.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">So, my favorite kid is world history, I’ll admit it. But it dawned on me as I was writing this—perhaps it’s my favorite because it offers me the opportunity to bring in the elements that I also love about the other five, which are also near and dear to my heart.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><img src="http://www.crayonboxlearning.com/images/leah-signature.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: none;" /><!-- Begin MailChimp Signup Form --><link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-10_7.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><style type="text/css"> #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ </style><br /><div id="mc_embed_signup"><form action="//blogspot.us10.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=186b802153fb21547cca716cb&amp;id=6a65daf72b" class="validate" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" method="post" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" novalidate="" target="_blank"><div id="mc_embed_signup_scroll"><h2>Subscribe to our mailing list</h2><div class="indicates-required"><span class="asterisk">*</span> indicates required</div><div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-EMAIL">Email Address <span class="asterisk">*</span></label> <input class="required email" id="mce-EMAIL" name="EMAIL" type="email" value="" /></div><div class="mc-field-group input-group"><strong>Email Format </strong> <br /><ul><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-0" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="html" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-0">html</label></li><li><input id="mce-EMAILTYPE-1" name="EMAILTYPE" type="radio" value="text" /><label for="mce-EMAILTYPE-1">text</label></li></ul></div><div class="clear" id="mce-responses"><div class="response" id="mce-error-response" style="display: none;"></div><div class="response" id="mce-success-response" style="display: none;"></div></div><!-- real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups--> <br /><div aria-hidden="true" style="left: -5000px; position: absolute;"><input name="b_186b802153fb21547cca716cb_6a65daf72b" tabindex="-1" type="text" value="" /></div><div class="clear"><input class="button" id="mc-embedded-subscribe" name="subscribe" type="submit" value="Subscribe" /></div></div></form></div><script src="//s3.amazonaws.com/downloads.mailchimp.com/js/mc-validate.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script type="text/javascript">(function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true);</script><!--End mc_embed_signup-->Leah Clearyhttps://plus.google.com/112034139671515193206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490708975258688106.post-42159064416883061962016-11-07T17:59:00.001-08:002017-02-02T09:30:50.133-08:00Managing a Distracted Class<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xZ6W9G-JDwk/WCEulVUKhFI/AAAAAAAAClM/vUx98hFIB2ImNKJ-NxQ4P9-ZGFeKCFGkACLcB/s1600/Long%2BTemplate.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Sometimes we teach classes of students who are nice but distracted. They're not intentionally misbehaving or being rude, but they're jittery and chatty. One way I've decided to combat this issue is to implement a class contract. Another ways that's effective is to reward the positive behavior when it's displayed as an encouragement to get back on that path. What do you do with a distracted class?" border="0" data-pin-description="Sometimes we teach classes of students who are nice but distracted. They're not intentionally misbehaving or being rude, but they're jittery and chatty. One way I've decided to combat this issue is to implement a class contract. Another ways that's effective is to reward the positive behavior when it's displayed as an encouragement to get back on that path. What do you do with a distracted class?" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xZ6W9G-JDwk/WCEulVUKhFI/AAAAAAAAClM/vUx98hFIB2ImNKJ-NxQ4P9-ZGFeKCFGkACLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" title="Sometimes we teach classes of students who are nice but distracted. They're not intentionally misbehaving or being rude, but they're jittery and chatty. One way I've decided to combat this issue is to implement a class contract. Another ways that's effective is to reward the positive behavior when it's displayed as an encouragement to get back on that path. What do you do with a distracted class?" width="208" /></a></div>Last year, I had some of the most difficult students that I've ever taught. I wrote about it <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2015/08/dealing-with-difficult-students-what-to.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</b>&nbsp;I got through it, and so did they. In order to do so, I had to target very specific, undesirable behaviors from individual students and approach it with behavior contracts. Believe me, I tried targeting positive behaviors first, and that was not effective under those circumstances.<br /><br />I've encountered something different this year. My students are very nice across the board and overall, a pleasure to teach.<br /><br />But one of my classes is more crowded than it probably should be and full of larger-than-life personalities, including a large portion of the JV football team.<br /><br />Oh, my, those guys are not interested in sitting still.<br /><br />If you read my blog often, then you know that I do lecture, but that I try to keep it down to the bare minimum and offer activities that involve getting up and getting active. That's how the kids learn, and that's the goal.<br /><br />But when I'm talking, I need them to listen. When I turn them loose to work on their Chromebooks, I need them to work.<br /><br />Here's what was happening in that class:<br /><br />Me, passionately lecturing about absolute rulers in Europe.<br /><br />In my periphery, Student A gets up to throw something away.<br /><br />Student B's hand shoots up, "Can I go to the bathroom?" (And I can't help but respond with my usual, "I have faith that you can." It makes me and only me laugh every time.)<br /><br />Student C giggles into Student D's ear, as Student E says, "Go back a slide, I missed the last part."<br /><br />Well, Student E, you missed the last part because you were distracted by Student A's walking across the room and Students' C and D talking, not to mention my HILARIOUS response to Student B.<br /><br />And....that's not fair to you. So sorry--my bad.<br /><br />So--what to do when the kids are nice, generally cooperative, but just not quite doing what they should be?<br /><br />That is the perfect opportunity to target those positive behaviors that they generally display.<br /><br />There are all kinds of apps and programs out there to help organize all of this, and I love using technology in the classroom, but when it comes to management, I have found that I prefer simple, to-the-point, and low-tech.<br /><h3>Here's what has worked for this class so far:</h3><h4>Give Them Ownership&nbsp;</h4>Have a candid discussion with them. Say something like, "This is a great class, and I really enjoy you all, but we get distracted a lot. That wastes our time. When our time is wasted, we're not learning, and learning is why we are here."<br /><br />Ask them what behaviors they <i>should</i> be displaying to make the best use of their time. They may say things like, "Listening...Staying in our seats unless we're supposed to be up...Being respectful of each other...Taking turns to talk...Being on the right website(s)...Doing our work...Keeping cell phones put away...etc." As they speak, write these things on the board.<br /><br />Then create a class contract that begins with something like. "I agree to do the following...."<br /><h4>Give Them Consequences &nbsp;&nbsp;</h4>Acknowledge when they are doing right. For years, I was opposed to rewarding students for behaving appropriately. That's what they're <i>supposed</i>&nbsp;to do. Their desire to do right <i>should</i> be intrinsic.<br /><br />But many things <i>should</i> be that <i>aren't</i>. And with that logic, it would also stand to reason that we should not have consequences for negative behaviors. But we do. We must. Consequences--both positive and negative--are a part of life.<br /><br />Many of our students are desperate for attention. If the only attention they can get comes from negative behaviors, then not offering reinforcement for positive behaviors will encourage misbehavior among a portion of our students.<br /><br />Rewards can be as simple as a call home when a student is doing right. Something I've seen teachers do that seems pretty effective is to give students a raffle ticket randomly when they are doing right. At the end of the week, they have a drawing, and a certain number of students win a small prize.<br /><br />I'll probably try that at some point because I like the immediate acknowledgement of a ticket and the anticipation of a raffle, but what I'm doing now is tied into my class contract.<br /><br />After I list the behaviors that the students and I came up with, I write, "If I ever fail to honor this agreement, the consequence will be a strike. Three strikes in a week will result in a phone call home, etc."<br /><br />I print a roster and don't say anything, but I put a mark by students' names for a strike. They usually think about it and know right away that they've gotten one.<br /><br />Keep in mind that the behaviors that I'm dealing with this semester are mostly distracting, not dangerous or disrespectful, so they start each week with a clean slate. If they make it to the end of the week with no strikes, I spin a virtual wheel (I LOVE these wheels and use them all the time in my classes--find them <b><a href="http://wheeldecide.com/" target="_blank">here</a></b>, just be sure to create a free account so you can save your wheels). I put each student's name on it, and whoever the spinner lands on gets an assignment pass. Then I give everyone who didn't get a strike a small prize like a piece of candy or a mechanical pencil (these are seriously coveted).<br /><br />They get really excited about the assignment pass, even though it's not good for tests, quizzes, or projects.<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cfmlV0K-608/WCEkKfLyEeI/AAAAAAAACk8/neaM7b5X0GMpYGtsEw941LUQMcB-MlDwACLcB/s1600/Assignment%2BPass.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Sometimes we teach classes of students who are nice but distracted. They're not intentionally misbehaving or being rude, but they're jittery and chatty. One way I've decided to combat this issue is to implement a class contract. Another ways that's effective is to reward the positive behavior when it's displayed as an encouragement to get back on that path. What do you do with a distracted class?" border="0" data-pin-description="Sometimes we teach classes of students who are nice but distracted. They're not intentionally misbehaving or being rude, but they're jittery and chatty. One way I've decided to combat this issue is to implement a class contract. Another ways that's effective is to reward the positive behavior when it's displayed as an encouragement to get back on that path. What do you do with a distracted class?" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cfmlV0K-608/WCEkKfLyEeI/AAAAAAAACk8/neaM7b5X0GMpYGtsEw941LUQMcB-MlDwACLcB/s400/Assignment%2BPass.png" title="Sometimes we teach classes of students who are nice but distracted. They're not intentionally misbehaving or being rude, but they're jittery and chatty. One way I've decided to combat this issue is to implement a class contract. Another ways that's effective is to reward the positive behavior when it's displayed as an encouragement to get back on that path. What do you do with a distracted class?" width="308" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grab It for Free <b><a href="http://bit.ly/2exOeIq" target="_blank">HERE</a></b>!</td></tr></tbody></table>How do you manage "distracted" classes? Leave a comment below, and let me know.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.crayonboxlearning.com/images/leah-signature.png" style="background: transparent; border: none;" /> Leah Clearyhttps://plus.google.com/112034139671515193206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490708975258688106.post-11339623275957721412016-10-17T15:39:00.000-07:002017-03-27T19:03:31.501-07:00Three Tips For Managing Your Blended Class<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7ilQ_ESZXeM/WAU--9uovlI/AAAAAAAACjM/1WkRn3jCWr8HVYUOtiDd7RRZBYISpseqwCLcB/s1600/Long%2BTemplate.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Classroom management is a challenge in and of itself, and adding technology to the classroom just opens a whole new can of worms. I've compiled three tips that I've found useful, in terms of classroom management, when you have a blended classroom. These tips are simple and easy to implement, but they'll save you headaches and frustration when classroom management issues arise." border="0" data-pin-description="Classroom management is a challenge in and of itself, and adding technology to the classroom just opens a whole new can of worms. I've compiled three tips that I've found useful, in terms of classroom management, when you have a blended classroom. These tips are simple and easy to implement, but they'll save you headaches and frustration when classroom management issues arise." height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7ilQ_ESZXeM/WAU--9uovlI/AAAAAAAACjM/1WkRn3jCWr8HVYUOtiDd7RRZBYISpseqwCLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" title="Classroom management is a challenge in and of itself, and adding technology to the classroom just opens a whole new can of worms. I've compiled three tips that I've found useful, in terms of classroom management, when you have a blended classroom. These tips are simple and easy to implement, but they'll save you headaches and frustration when classroom management issues arise." width="208" /></a></div>One of the most difficult tasks for a teacher is classroom management. Picture the young teacher who can't get a grasp on it and quits in frustration. Or worse--the veteran teacher who never got a grasp on it, but continued to teach anyway.<br /><br />Some people seem to have a knack for classroom management. Others have to work hard to hone that skill. I fall into the latter category. If it weren't for the tremendous support system of veteran teachers I've enjoyed over the years, I could have fallen into either one of the scenarios mentioned above.<br /><br />So, I had to work extra hard to "get it." I had to go against my laid back nature. I had to emulate and seek advice from people who did "get it." And I got to be pretty good at it. I still have the occasional issues, of course, but learning takes place in my classroom. And that's the goal.<br /><br />I had been feeling pretty good about my classroom and myself in it for the past few years, and then a new curve ball flew my way. My district went 1:1.<br /><br />1:1 is a good thing. It has opened up so many possibilities in the classroom. I have kept what works best with pen and paper and embraced what works best digitally. I have blended my classroom.<br /><br />But just when I was feeling comfortable with the old system, 1:1 has introduced all new classroom management issues. The good news is that most of the new issues (the one's I've encountered, anyway) are easily solved with some minor tweaking of the old ways.<br /><br />So, here they are:<br /><h3>Three Tips For Managing Your Blended Class</h3><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AMy3-kwyAX8/WAU_U1EJuVI/AAAAAAAACjQ/dBWha5EsGGAb0n8BJyMWbZhVakyxjqOcgCLcB/s1600/Picture9.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Classroom management is a challenge in and of itself, and adding technology to the classroom just opens a whole new can of worms. I've compiled three tips that I've found useful, in terms of classroom management, when you have a blended classroom. These tips are simple and easy to implement, but they'll save you headaches and frustration when classroom management issues arise." border="0" data-pin-description="Classroom management is a challenge in and of itself, and adding technology to the classroom just opens a whole new can of worms. I've compiled three tips that I've found useful, in terms of classroom management, when you have a blended classroom. These tips are simple and easy to implement, but they'll save you headaches and frustration when classroom management issues arise." height="83" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AMy3-kwyAX8/WAU_U1EJuVI/AAAAAAAACjQ/dBWha5EsGGAb0n8BJyMWbZhVakyxjqOcgCLcB/s320/Picture9.png" title="Classroom management is a challenge in and of itself, and adding technology to the classroom just opens a whole new can of worms. I've compiled three tips that I've found useful, in terms of classroom management, when you have a blended classroom. These tips are simple and easy to implement, but they'll save you headaches and frustration when classroom management issues arise." width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />A blended classroom alternates between technology and traditional pen and paper work. When it's time to work the old fashioned way, there needs to be a procedure in pace for putting away those devices that can be so useful at the right time, and yet so distracting at the wrong time.<br /><br />Without a specific procedure in place and consequences for failing to adhere to it, blending can be frustrating to say the least. My school has adopted a policy for it this year that I think works well, but you can implement one on your own for your classroom.<br /><br />1. Have a double-sided sign that is red on one side and green on the other. When the sign is turned to the green side, technology is in use. When the sign is turned to red, technology should be put away.<br /><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j7vJk71rWe4/WAVDiE_vB1I/AAAAAAAACjc/onHyZC12Llsk5hk92vu-JnmEHqvkeViXACLcB/s1600/Slide1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Classroom management is a challenge in and of itself, and adding technology to the classroom just opens a whole new can of worms. I've compiled three tips that I've found useful, in terms of classroom management, when you have a blended classroom. These tips are simple and easy to implement, but they'll save you headaches and frustration when classroom management issues arise." border="0" data-pin-description="Classroom management is a challenge in and of itself, and adding technology to the classroom just opens a whole new can of worms. I've compiled three tips that I've found useful, in terms of classroom management, when you have a blended classroom. These tips are simple and easy to implement, but they'll save you headaches and frustration when classroom management issues arise." height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j7vJk71rWe4/WAVDiE_vB1I/AAAAAAAACjc/onHyZC12Llsk5hk92vu-JnmEHqvkeViXACLcB/s400/Slide1.PNG" title="Classroom management is a challenge in and of itself, and adding technology to the classroom just opens a whole new can of worms. I've compiled three tips that I've found useful, in terms of classroom management, when you have a blended classroom. These tips are simple and easy to implement, but they'll save you headaches and frustration when classroom management issues arise." width="400" /></a>2. If a student is caught using technology when the sign is red, take the device.<br />3. Store the device in a "technology time-out" or a "phone jail" (I used the phone jail before my school adopted this policy, and believe it or not, the students got a kick out of phones "going to jail").<br />4. Have other consequences for repeated offenses. Our school-wide policy is an administrative referral, but before this, I would have a progressive policy beginning with a 15 minute detention (I always play opera music in detention--fit the arts in where you can :) ).<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UmeR-OHMO8A/WAVDrPSqYHI/AAAAAAAACjo/fnnFgSTS0vks3AW6WPfr-dLlJ05rpEG1QCEw/s1600/Picture10.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Classroom management is a challenge in and of itself, and adding technology to the classroom just opens a whole new can of worms. I've compiled three tips that I've found useful, in terms of classroom management, when you have a blended classroom. These tips are simple and easy to implement, but they'll save you headaches and frustration when classroom management issues arise." border="0" data-pin-description="Classroom management is a challenge in and of itself, and adding technology to the classroom just opens a whole new can of worms. I've compiled three tips that I've found useful, in terms of classroom management, when you have a blended classroom. These tips are simple and easy to implement, but they'll save you headaches and frustration when classroom management issues arise." height="85" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UmeR-OHMO8A/WAVDrPSqYHI/AAAAAAAACjo/fnnFgSTS0vks3AW6WPfr-dLlJ05rpEG1QCEw/s320/Picture10.png" title="Classroom management is a challenge in and of itself, and adding technology to the classroom just opens a whole new can of worms. I've compiled three tips that I've found useful, in terms of classroom management, when you have a blended classroom. These tips are simple and easy to implement, but they'll save you headaches and frustration when classroom management issues arise." width="320" /></a></div>One of the things I love about going 1:1 is being able to tell students returning from an absence to "Check Google Classroom." Technology has alleviated the headache that is gathering make-up work. <br /><br /><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PgFqYSCfs8A/WAVHQfH2z4I/AAAAAAAACjw/Pl-Kvkd-GBEKYW1t0jAiR6gpUMeVzIgkQCLcB/s1600/Slide5.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Classroom management is a challenge in and of itself, and adding technology to the classroom just opens a whole new can of worms. I've compiled three tips that I've found useful, in terms of classroom management, when you have a blended classroom. These tips are simple and easy to implement, but they'll save you headaches and frustration when classroom management issues arise." border="0" data-pin-description="Classroom management is a challenge in and of itself, and adding technology to the classroom just opens a whole new can of worms. I've compiled three tips that I've found useful, in terms of classroom management, when you have a blended classroom. These tips are simple and easy to implement, but they'll save you headaches and frustration when classroom management issues arise." height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PgFqYSCfs8A/WAVHQfH2z4I/AAAAAAAACjw/Pl-Kvkd-GBEKYW1t0jAiR6gpUMeVzIgkQCLcB/s320/Slide5.PNG" title="Classroom management is a challenge in and of itself, and adding technology to the classroom just opens a whole new can of worms. I've compiled three tips that I've found useful, in terms of classroom management, when you have a blended classroom. These tips are simple and easy to implement, but they'll save you headaches and frustration when classroom management issues arise." width="320" /></a>But what about the pen and paper assignments--the things that students have to cut, fold, and color? Have a specific place where you keep a set of five folders for each class that you teach. I turned plain file folders into envelopes by writing a day of the week on each, laminating them, stapling the sides, and hanging them on my bulletin board (added benefit--I don't have to decorate the bulletin board, a task I don't enjoy). At the end of each class, drop any handouts into the folder for the appropriate day.<br /><br />It's not a novel idea, but it keeps everything in place. Get students into the habit of always checking the folder and Google Classroom (or whatever you use) for the day they missed when returning from an absence.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bk3d3nYKQeg/WAVKH5GfooI/AAAAAAAACj8/vRF2FHsZLNoPIo_G3KF8I-5E329Ol5adwCLcB/s1600/Picture11.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Classroom management is a challenge in and of itself, and adding technology to the classroom just opens a whole new can of worms. I've compiled three tips that I've found useful, in terms of classroom management, when you have a blended classroom. These tips are simple and easy to implement, but they'll save you headaches and frustration when classroom management issues arise." border="0" data-pin-description="Classroom management is a challenge in and of itself, and adding technology to the classroom just opens a whole new can of worms. I've compiled three tips that I've found useful, in terms of classroom management, when you have a blended classroom. These tips are simple and easy to implement, but they'll save you headaches and frustration when classroom management issues arise." height="85" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bk3d3nYKQeg/WAVKH5GfooI/AAAAAAAACj8/vRF2FHsZLNoPIo_G3KF8I-5E329Ol5adwCLcB/s320/Picture11.png" title="Classroom management is a challenge in and of itself, and adding technology to the classroom just opens a whole new can of worms. I've compiled three tips that I've found useful, in terms of classroom management, when you have a blended classroom. These tips are simple and easy to implement, but they'll save you headaches and frustration when classroom management issues arise." width="320" /></a></div>I use tables in my classroom rather than desks. When I was doing all paper-based interactive notebooks, I would keep a bin on each table containing four whiteboards, four dry erase markers, four pairs of scissors, four bottles of glue, a stapler, and a pack of crayons. I know teachers who do this with desks by keeping the materials at the front or back of each row.<br /><br /><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sLTZVd0rxJg/WAVKSbo6X0I/AAAAAAAACkA/BbA_nqPhbZMIT2B5IYl7H7eTbfRtkoVxACLcB/s1600/Slide4.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Classroom management is a challenge in and of itself, and adding technology to the classroom just opens a whole new can of worms. I've compiled three tips that I've found useful, in terms of classroom management, when you have a blended classroom. These tips are simple and easy to implement, but they'll save you headaches and frustration when classroom management issues arise." border="0" data-pin-description="Classroom management is a challenge in and of itself, and adding technology to the classroom just opens a whole new can of worms. I've compiled three tips that I've found useful, in terms of classroom management, when you have a blended classroom. These tips are simple and easy to implement, but they'll save you headaches and frustration when classroom management issues arise." height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sLTZVd0rxJg/WAVKSbo6X0I/AAAAAAAACkA/BbA_nqPhbZMIT2B5IYl7H7eTbfRtkoVxACLcB/s320/Slide4.PNG" title="Classroom management is a challenge in and of itself, and adding technology to the classroom just opens a whole new can of worms. I've compiled three tips that I've found useful, in terms of classroom management, when you have a blended classroom. These tips are simple and easy to implement, but they'll save you headaches and frustration when classroom management issues arise." width="320" /></a>I found that when it's technology time, not only are the bins in the way, but they can become a distraction (ironically, just like the technology can when it's pen and paper time). So I started keeping the bins off of the desks, labeled with the table or row number to which it belongs and an inventory list.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q35RDhTjsnc/WAVN-2fy6KI/AAAAAAAACkM/HHQQ2E5nUGYfI7Fr95UMYon9dH_4fgqeACLcB/s1600/Picture12.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Classroom management is a challenge in and of itself, and adding technology to the classroom just opens a whole new can of worms. I've compiled three tips that I've found useful, in terms of classroom management, when you have a blended classroom. These tips are simple and easy to implement, but they'll save you headaches and frustration when classroom management issues arise." border="0" data-pin-description="Classroom management is a challenge in and of itself, and adding technology to the classroom just opens a whole new can of worms. I've compiled three tips that I've found useful, in terms of classroom management, when you have a blended classroom. These tips are simple and easy to implement, but they'll save you headaches and frustration when classroom management issues arise." height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q35RDhTjsnc/WAVN-2fy6KI/AAAAAAAACkM/HHQQ2E5nUGYfI7Fr95UMYon9dH_4fgqeACLcB/s320/Picture12.png" title="Classroom management is a challenge in and of itself, and adding technology to the classroom just opens a whole new can of worms. I've compiled three tips that I've found useful, in terms of classroom management, when you have a blended classroom. These tips are simple and easy to implement, but they'll save you headaches and frustration when classroom management issues arise." width="250" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Get It Free <b><a href="http://bit.ly/1NNy6kC" target="_blank">HERE</a></b></td></tr></tbody></table>When it's time to use them, one student from each table retrieves the appropriate bin. One student is in charge of making sure all of the materials are accounted for and taken care of, and one student is in charge of making sure that any messes are cleaned up. The responsibilities rotate weekly. I made this poster for middle school students to remind them of their responsibilities. I use a black and white version in my high school classroom.<br /><br />Those are my three simple tips for making a blended classroom run more smoothly. What are some of yours? Leave a comment below to let me know.<br /><br /><br />And be sure to stick around to check out my other Blended Classroom Tips and Tricks.<br /></html><style> .HeaderText { margin-bottom: 10px; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; } .BlogButton { float: left; margin: 4px; } .ButtonGroup { margin-bottom: 20px; } .CatagoryText { font-size: 50px; font-weight: bolder; color: #000000; text-decoration: none; clear: both; padding-top: 35px; } .BodyText { font-size: 20px; font-weight: bolder; color: #000000; text-decoration: none; clear: both; padding-top: 35px; } .Credits { margin-top: 100px; } img.BlogButton { border: none; width: 115.05px; height: 176.25px; } </style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/09/submitting-pen-and-paper-work-digitally.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton"src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gYQRJgHm1cQ/V9XXIHCKyhI/AAAAAAAACco/T2_5SmycWakkoAPF9cmS4qeVAVfcUBTdACLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png"/></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/09/poll-students-with-google-classroom.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MCQI85LNi_k/V-CYWmHF3ZI/AAAAAAAACeI/BuihUyfg-zg-q25E-0ocCtDDmfgY9YvTQCLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/09/help-students-stay-organized-with.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-prSwx1505kc/V-hCgZUdALI/AAAAAAAACfE/paMRSFe8RsAvFF3MdlK0areNNJGWN5IMQCLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/10/three-tips-for-managing-your-blended.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7ilQ_ESZXeM/WAU--9uovlI/AAAAAAAACjM/1WkRn3jCWr8HVYUOtiDd7RRZBYISpseqwCLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/01/using-google-forms-to-create-self.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-asuUIB14Sgo/WHV6Ae_e4nI/AAAAAAAACoE/AUshz4oU1dwNSObGevXdbOTl4kgrynywACLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/02/enabling-adobe-flash-on-chomebook.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VnRLtia33yU/WLTtRCy5mVI/AAAAAAAACs4/twaVJTKrLwU1qvuYVl0ypyi0zbelpBjmgCLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/03/the-problem-with-cell-phones.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rdbd1e0FX_Y/WNmdhQODqlI/AAAAAAAAC0A/o1DFVA7b8KwlCC4IS_haR6Irmb9vqUlfwCLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" /></a><br /></div></html><br /><img src="http://www.crayonboxlearning.com/images/leah-signature.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: none;" /><!-- Begin MailChimp Signup Form --><link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-10_7.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"><style type="text/css"> #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. 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Now when you create assignments in Google Classroom, you can categorize them by topic. Then, when students are searching for a topic, they'll be able to see all of the assignments--and only those assignments--for that topic! Making your life easier one feature at a time!" border="0" data-pin-description="Blended learning is made easier with a new categorization feature in Google Classroom! Now when you create assignments in Google Classroom, you can categorize them by topic. Then, when students are searching for a topic, they'll be able to see all of the assignments--and only those assignments--for that topic! Making your life easier one feature at a time!" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-prSwx1505kc/V-hCgZUdALI/AAAAAAAACfE/paMRSFe8RsAvFF3MdlK0areNNJGWN5IMQCLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" title="Blended learning is made easier with a new categorization feature in Google Classroom! Now when you create assignments in Google Classroom, you can categorize them by topic. Then, when students are searching for a topic, they'll be able to see all of the assignments--and only those assignments--for that topic! Making your life easier one feature at a time!" width="207" /></a></div>I'm writing all about blended classroom tips and tricks over the next few weeks--those really useful things I've "discovered" as I go hybrid (pen and paper blended with digital). So far, we've learned <a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/09/submitting-pen-and-paper-work-digitally.html" target="_blank"><b>how to submit pen and paper work digitally with a Chromebook</b></a> and <b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/09/poll-students-with-google-classroom.html" target="_blank">how to take a poll in Google Classroom.</a></b><br /><br />I'm loving blending my classes so far, but the most important thing when we're going back and forth between digital and pen and paper is that the students stay organized and know right where to find everything.<br /><br />During the spring, I wrote about<a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/01/blending-my-classes-one-unit-at-time.html" target="_blank"> </a><b><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/01/blending-my-classes-one-unit-at-time.html" target="_blank">helping the students stay organized while blending</a> </b>by creating a printed three column table of contents (I have a free template for it <b><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Blended-Interactive-Notebook-Guide-for-the-Digital-Classroom-2362581" target="_blank">HERE</a></b>) and then having students create sub-folders in their Google Classroom folder for each unit.<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VujKqfbBpUo/V-hAk4BQIoI/AAAAAAAACe4/Q0kM45LLPKskJW_9iCwbSoNf695ARZJTgCEw/s1600/TOC.png" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: black; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Blended learning is made easier with a new categorization feature in Google Classroom! Now when you create assignments in Google Classroom, you can categorize them by topic. Then, when students are searching for a topic, they'll be able to see all of the assignments--and only those assignments--for that topic! Making your life easier one feature at a time!" border="0" data-pin-description="Blended learning is made easier with a new categorization feature in Google Classroom! Now when you create assignments in Google Classroom, you can categorize them by topic. Then, when students are searching for a topic, they'll be able to see all of the assignments--and only those assignments--for that topic! Making your life easier one feature at a time!" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VujKqfbBpUo/V-hAk4BQIoI/AAAAAAAACe4/Q0kM45LLPKskJW_9iCwbSoNf695ARZJTgCEw/s640/TOC.png" title="Blended learning is made easier with a new categorization feature in Google Classroom! Now when you create assignments in Google Classroom, you can categorize them by topic. Then, when students are searching for a topic, they'll be able to see all of the assignments--and only those assignments--for that topic! Making your life easier one feature at a time!" width="490" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Blended Classroom Table of Contents Sample:&nbsp;</b>Notice the three columns that direct students to where they can find their resources for that unit.</td></tr></tbody></table>Students creating all those sub-folders is no longer necessary thanks to a brand new Google classroom feature. Now, when we create an assignment in Google Classroom, we can categorize it under a specific topic. I do mine by units so that when students are reviewing, they can click on the unit on the left-hand side and see all of the assignments (and only the assignments) that are categorized under that topic.<br /><br />Here's how it works:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CMKKV8nhGEU/V-g9Ba07BpI/AAAAAAAACeg/pMETzsYFhCYIy0GI2Exfrz9_IonrH77MACLcB/s1600/Pic%2B5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Blended learning is made easier with a new categorization feature in Google Classroom! Now when you create assignments in Google Classroom, you can categorize them by topic. Then, when students are searching for a topic, they'll be able to see all of the assignments--and only those assignments--for that topic! Making your life easier one feature at a time!" border="0" data-pin-description="Blended learning is made easier with a new categorization feature in Google Classroom! Now when you create assignments in Google Classroom, you can categorize them by topic. Then, when students are searching for a topic, they'll be able to see all of the assignments--and only those assignments--for that topic! Making your life easier one feature at a time!" height="270" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CMKKV8nhGEU/V-g9Ba07BpI/AAAAAAAACeg/pMETzsYFhCYIy0GI2Exfrz9_IonrH77MACLcB/s640/Pic%2B5.png" title="Blended learning is made easier with a new categorization feature in Google Classroom! Now when you create assignments in Google Classroom, you can categorize them by topic. Then, when students are searching for a topic, they'll be able to see all of the assignments--and only those assignments--for that topic! Making your life easier one feature at a time!" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Pxncrz64tUg/V-g9KgU2WKI/AAAAAAAACek/N4m-mMOz224M0E9tpbjGkXkctK_MJFrgQCLcB/s1600/Pic%2B6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Blended learning is made easier with a new categorization feature in Google Classroom! Now when you create assignments in Google Classroom, you can categorize them by topic. Then, when students are searching for a topic, they'll be able to see all of the assignments--and only those assignments--for that topic! Making your life easier one feature at a time!" border="0" data-pin-description="Blended learning is made easier with a new categorization feature in Google Classroom! Now when you create assignments in Google Classroom, you can categorize them by topic. Then, when students are searching for a topic, they'll be able to see all of the assignments--and only those assignments--for that topic! Making your life easier one feature at a time!" height="266" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Pxncrz64tUg/V-g9KgU2WKI/AAAAAAAACek/N4m-mMOz224M0E9tpbjGkXkctK_MJFrgQCLcB/s640/Pic%2B6.png" title="Blended learning is made easier with a new categorization feature in Google Classroom! Now when you create assignments in Google Classroom, you can categorize them by topic. Then, when students are searching for a topic, they'll be able to see all of the assignments--and only those assignments--for that topic! Making your life easier one feature at a time!" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0xVmchQ0cNc/V-g9Rjn0RUI/AAAAAAAACeo/vPcDpxBBn-4VB_JBLlLppkeXJ_-SQ7oUgCLcB/s1600/Pic%2B7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Blended learning is made easier with a new categorization feature in Google Classroom! Now when you create assignments in Google Classroom, you can categorize them by topic. Then, when students are searching for a topic, they'll be able to see all of the assignments--and only those assignments--for that topic! Making your life easier one feature at a time!" border="0" data-pin-description="Blended learning is made easier with a new categorization feature in Google Classroom! Now when you create assignments in Google Classroom, you can categorize them by topic. Then, when students are searching for a topic, they'll be able to see all of the assignments--and only those assignments--for that topic! Making your life easier one feature at a time!" height="262" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0xVmchQ0cNc/V-g9Rjn0RUI/AAAAAAAACeo/vPcDpxBBn-4VB_JBLlLppkeXJ_-SQ7oUgCLcB/s640/Pic%2B7.png" title="Blended learning is made easier with a new categorization feature in Google Classroom! Now when you create assignments in Google Classroom, you can categorize them by topic. Then, when students are searching for a topic, they'll be able to see all of the assignments--and only those assignments--for that topic! Making your life easier one feature at a time!" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1eIWMHeE8ZU/V-g9ZIEsagI/AAAAAAAACes/iW8PfsRP2dQU62V8t8BKD8ZjYk-qKoyewCLcB/s1600/Pic%2B8.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Blended learning is made easier with a new categorization feature in Google Classroom! Now when you create assignments in Google Classroom, you can categorize them by topic. Then, when students are searching for a topic, they'll be able to see all of the assignments--and only those assignments--for that topic! Making your life easier one feature at a time!" border="0" data-pin-description="Blended learning is made easier with a new categorization feature in Google Classroom! Now when you create assignments in Google Classroom, you can categorize them by topic. Then, when students are searching for a topic, they'll be able to see all of the assignments--and only those assignments--for that topic! Making your life easier one feature at a time!" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1eIWMHeE8ZU/V-g9ZIEsagI/AAAAAAAACes/iW8PfsRP2dQU62V8t8BKD8ZjYk-qKoyewCLcB/s640/Pic%2B8.png" title="Blended learning is made easier with a new categorization feature in Google Classroom! Now when you create assignments in Google Classroom, you can categorize them by topic. Then, when students are searching for a topic, they'll be able to see all of the assignments--and only those assignments--for that topic! Making your life easier one feature at a time!" width="640" /></a></div><br />This is convenient for end of unit and exam reviews. You can direct students to their Table of Contents for each unit so that they know whether to look in their paper notebooks or in Google Classroom for specific questions. In Classroom, they simply click on the unit they need, and it filters the assignments for them. No more creating sub-folders in DRIVE.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />Do you have any blended classroom tips and tricks to share? Let me know in the comments!<br /><br />And be sure to stick around to check out my other Blended Classroom Tips and Tricks.<br /></html><style> .HeaderText { margin-bottom: 10px; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; } .BlogButton { float: left; margin: 4px; } .ButtonGroup { margin-bottom: 20px; } .CatagoryText { font-size: 50px; font-weight: bolder; color: #000000; text-decoration: none; clear: both; padding-top: 35px; } .BodyText { font-size: 20px; font-weight: bolder; color: #000000; text-decoration: none; clear: both; padding-top: 35px; } .Credits { margin-top: 100px; } img.BlogButton { border: none; width: 115.05px; height: 176.25px; } </style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/09/submitting-pen-and-paper-work-digitally.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton"src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gYQRJgHm1cQ/V9XXIHCKyhI/AAAAAAAACco/T2_5SmycWakkoAPF9cmS4qeVAVfcUBTdACLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png"/></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/09/poll-students-with-google-classroom.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MCQI85LNi_k/V-CYWmHF3ZI/AAAAAAAACeI/BuihUyfg-zg-q25E-0ocCtDDmfgY9YvTQCLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/09/help-students-stay-organized-with.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-prSwx1505kc/V-hCgZUdALI/AAAAAAAACfE/paMRSFe8RsAvFF3MdlK0areNNJGWN5IMQCLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2016/10/three-tips-for-managing-your-blended.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7ilQ_ESZXeM/WAU--9uovlI/AAAAAAAACjM/1WkRn3jCWr8HVYUOtiDd7RRZBYISpseqwCLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/01/using-google-forms-to-create-self.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-asuUIB14Sgo/WHV6Ae_e4nI/AAAAAAAACoE/AUshz4oU1dwNSObGevXdbOTl4kgrynywACLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/02/enabling-adobe-flash-on-chomebook.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VnRLtia33yU/WLTtRCy5mVI/AAAAAAAACs4/twaVJTKrLwU1qvuYVl0ypyi0zbelpBjmgCLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" /></a><br /></div></html></style></head><div align="center" class="BlogButton"><a href="http://www.leahcleary.com/2017/03/the-problem-with-cell-phones.html" target="_blank"><img class="BlogButton" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rdbd1e0FX_Y/WNmdhQODqlI/AAAAAAAAC0A/o1DFVA7b8KwlCC4IS_haR6Irmb9vqUlfwCLcB/s320/Long%2BTemplate.png" /></a><br /></div></html><br /><img src="http://www.crayonboxlearning.com/images/leah-signature.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: none;" /><!-- Begin MailChimp Signup Form --><link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-10_7.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"><style type="text/css"> #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. 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